Thanksgiving Day is the most recent holiday, but right now the relevant time marker is Boxing Day. It’s not that we’re giving anybody but a Goodwill boxes of items; instead, we are boxing up the last of what’s in our soon to be former house. And are we ever tired of boxes!

Many people have asked whether we are sad to go through this process of selling the house where we raised our kids and have lived for almost a quarter of a century. I feel nostalgic sometimes, but honestly mostly it feels good to move on, start a new venture, and let this house once again have the vitality that comes with the presence of children.

Our kids were home over Thanksgiving, and each one told us that selling the house now feels right and fitting on some fundamental level. And we all agree that cleaning out the family home when you’re doing it at the time of your choosing and in order to start a new adventure is as good as this process gets. There’s no divorce, illness, or death here – just the joy of opening a new chapter in all of our lives. So here’s to what was and what will be!

 

 

Thirty-three years and change ago, Mark Morris and I joined a group of friends at Kenneally’s Irish Pub in Houston. We hadn’t been dating long, so we were still learning a lot about each other’s basic characteristics. Mark and I agreed on two issues that night: we both disliked the movie “Arthur,” which was very popular then, and we both would ride in the space shuttle if given the chance. Interestingly, on both issues, we were the only two people at that long, slightly beer-splattered table to hold those opinions.

The night at the pub was one of the times in our short and merry courtship we both remember all these years later. For two pretty practical people (we’re both lawyers, after all), we shared some amazing dreams in those heady, slightly foggy months of dating. Many of them centered around travel and, ultimately, living abroad.

So it turns out that the space shuttle discussion has had legs in our marriage (the “Arthur” thing not so much). Remarkably, Elon Musk hasn’t texted me with an invitation to outer space. However, the seed planted in that conversation at Kenneally’s grew up into a want-to-live-abroad bush. We’re watching the bush bud now.

 

Hi, all! As promised, I’m starting a blog about Mark’s and my adventure of living in Spain. Watch this window!

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton