London’s grey skies greeted us with mild temperatures upon our return this morning…and those grey skies echoed our mood. We had an incredible time visiting with everyone in the States and it was incredibly hard to leave. Sunny skies and smiling faces greeted us around every bend in the road as we made our way in Oklahoma, Raleigh/Durham, Ocean Isle and b Virginia. Thank you to everyone for making our stay so pleasant and for making us so welcome!
During our travels we were able to catch up with the family in Oklahoma (thank you to the Kivett and DeWitt clans), friends in Raleigh/Durham (thank you to the Dellingers, Freemans, Scarboroughs, Jernigans, Precopios, Smiths and Olsens), friends and family in Ocean Isle (thank you to the Mears, Hilyerds, K’s Dad, Wallaces, Thompsons, Herwigs, Simons and Kaufmans) and K’s family in Virginia. It means so much to us that everyone made the effort to come out, have a great time and pick things up where we last left off.
We’ve been blessed by many things, but having loving and supportive friends and family has been (by far) the greatest blessing of all. But going back is never easy for us. It’s difficult to go back because it raises tons of questions that we happy stifle otherwise. Anyone who’s introspective would struggle with the ‘what ifs’:
What if we had bought a big and shiny house in Raleigh with kids in the yard (yes, I realise you can’t buy children :))?
What if we had built a summer house at Smith Mountain Lake?
What if we had lived in DC or Richmond?
What if we could collect all our favorite people into single neighborhood someplace on Earth?
What if we lived in a place where the sun actually shines? 🙂
What if we were able to spend quality time with our family and friends more regularly?
What if I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow?
For every amazing moment, a not so amazing self questioning ‘why do we live so far away’ moment comes later. We count ourselves lucky to have so many friends and family who love and care for us…but have realised that the more we move, the less likely having all of our favorite folks in a single place at one time will ever be. It’s sad, really. But in the end, we count ourselves fortunate to have so very many wonderful reasons to consider our choice–thank you to everyone for making the effort and taking the break to have a wonderful time together.
For additional photos from our trip to the States, click here.
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