Home Again
The minute I stepped off the plane, I was home. I knew the airport. I knew the streets. We canceled our hotel because our friends took the empty house we were renting and made it ours. They moved in furniture, filled it with toilet paper, Oreos and a gallon of milk. They bought the boys matching Viking hoodies in purple & yellow, my first plant named “Sarah” and laid out a doormat outside that said, “So Happy You’re Here.”
That night our family went to a New Year’s Eve party and I felt so at home. Dancing to 90’s Hip Hop with old friends, sweater ripped off because I was sweating from moving my body so freely. We all stayed up past 1:00am. All of us, even 6-year-old Chase.
The next day, after emptying our 6x6 storage unit into a rented U-Haul, we went to a “Welcome Anders & Chase” sledding party thrown at a nearby park to introduce them to new classmates. The boys were gifted alpaca stuffies. An old friend came and brought us an iron to borrow since Steve was running a workshop. She also insisted we take a queen bed frame of hers she had stored in her basement, cause when your mattress is on the ground it’s just not right.
We met new people, who offered their car for us to use the next day. We said yes, cause when people offer, you accept - that’s community. Another women invited the boys over for hot cocoa after sledding. We said yes again, and off they went. (This women turned out to be an old client of mine - kismet.) In chatting about the car I wanted to buy that was in Green Bay, WI, she said her sister lived there and would be happy to drive it here for me. I said yes. It’s parked in my driveway now. With new license plates that give us free access to MN state parks. I like that.
Immediately the boys got asked on playdates. A mom dropped Chase off at our house after with a fresh chocolate torte. Anders went skiing. Chase invited new friends to our house. Anders went to football practice. They both got picked up to go to a Ninja Gym followed by ice cream.
Old friends have plopped on my couch. I have plopped on theirs. I call my mom from my car - cause I have drive time again. We’ve met our neighbors and delivered one of them a birthday present. A friend made us burritos. Another sent over freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
We picked up our new dog to make us a family of five and named him Adventure. A promise to ourselves that we’d never stop having an adventure.
I’ve been to Target. I’ve been to Trader Joes. I’ve been to Whole Foods.
It’s been less than two weeks. The welcome has been warmer that I ever could’ve imagined. We are home.