Monday, March 06, 2006

"Please don't go!"

In a couple hours, I'll begin the long journey back to Basel. I've had such a wonderful visit to Wisconsin, and am so happy to have been able to spend so much time with my family. As my almost-5 year old nephew left this morning for day care he said: "Please don't go, Gretchen!" He asked me to stay forever, but I told him I would really miss Kirk and Grady if I was gone any longer. Plus, I'm really looking forward to seeing the 2 feet of snow in Basel!

The funny thing is that I just realized I'm flying to Switzerland on March 6, which is exactly 2 years to the day from my original moving date. On March 6, 2004, I flew with Kirk and Grady from NYC to Zurich (long story about why we flew out of NYC) to start our new life in Basel. It was a day filled with emotion... I was thrilled to have the chance to live overseas for 2 years, but totally exhausted from trying to stay at my job until the very last minute (a big mistake, if you ask me now...) and trying to move out of our house and pack for the move by myself (Kirk moved to Basel a month before me to start work). All of this was happening just a month after my Mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to juggle it all.

Now, 2 years later, we're lucky enough to get the chance to stay in Basel for another year. And although I've had some very sad days over the past two years having said goodbye to my Mom, I am blessed with a wonderful life and thrilled about the prospect of welcoming a new baby into our lives! Next stop, Basel...