It’s March 3rd 2016
It’s a bittersweet feeling, We have planned and prepared and saved and dreamed…
But today it is in-your-face reality. A few days before this we said good-bye to our furry friends…Tink, Megan and Flower. The quarantine requirements in other countries are sometimes six months for entry and we felt it best to give them new homes rather than go thru long separations in foreign ports. We also didn’t know how we would manage being away from the boat to visit the States from time to time. So we made the decision to leave them behind. (heavy sigh and many tears). Tink is a seven an a half year old mutt that we rescued from terrible living conditions seven years ago. We loved her and she loved us from that day and for the next seven years she waited at the door when we came home, she greeted us with happiness, joy and a wagging tail. God provided the perfect situation for her to be adopted by a family full of kids to play with and a little dog who thinks she is a cat. We also left behind two cats that have been with us for 20 years! We raised them from kittens and they’ve seen a lot of changes. Their names are Megan and Flower. Liana would have coffee every morning with Flower on her shoulder and Megan on her Lap. Whenever we sat down in a chair it would guarantee some fluffy feline would make her presence known by a claw or two inserted into our leg or face (which ever was handy) and this would require petting them or endure more of this. We will miss them so much it hurts to think about it, but we know they are well taken care of with family that will love them greatly. This is some of what I mean by bitter sweet. If you want to cruise you must consider the cost. We won’t even go into leaving our kids, grandkids and other family and friends. It’s enough to say…
Wow this is hard….
Next is the house. We sold it to the new owners complete with everything-fully furnished. They even wanted our decorations and pictures on the walls. This made our moving out much easier (?). As I was leaving I took one last look at the painting on the dining room wall of a big strong oak tree. “The Family Tree,” painted by our daughter-in-law Abigail is a masterful piece of work that covers the entire wall floor to ceiling. That tree had pictures on it of each of our children and grandchildren hanging on the branches.
Out the back door stands the green house I built for Liana, she loves to garden. She spent a few years teaching gardening skills to school children in Colorado Springs. This green house is special and we are going to miss it and the tomatoes and peppers it produced. I think what I will miss the most is the hot tub in the corner that we put in the day we moved in. Not many days went by that I did not enjoy reading a sailing magazine and having a cold drink in there. Nothing like it to relax you from a long week away from home.
So today the 4×8 uhaul trailer is loaded. It’s packed full and contains everything we now own. All of our clothes, tools and things we think we might need on the boat. It is a little hard to say good bye but the excitement outweighs the sadness x100.
So now we are off to the east coast where our boat, Silhouette is patiently waiting for us.
Steve
It was nice meeting you while you were in SE Georgia. Fair winds and calm seas on your journey. We will be looking forward to following your travels.!
Wow. I felt the pain in this post. Had to be hard for you guys. Thanks for sharing.
We were excited but it wasn’t easy when this chapter of our life closed and reality set in. It was definitely a leap of faith! But we’re so glad we took that first step.