Bryan came back to Connecticut for one last weekend. We packed up our stuff into suitcases and backpacks. The things that didn’t fit were thrown away. Our family car was sold.
We took the kids back to the house to walk through one last time. We held each other and cried. We made angels in the newly vacuumed carpet to leave one last mark on our home of 11 years. The place we brought Adelaide home from the hospital. Where both our kids grew into the lovely children they are today. Where we tried new things, worked on our goals, and gathered as a family. The Christmas tree always sat in the same corner with the couches blocking it in so no one could get at the presents underneath before Christmas morning. The plastic ornaments were recently replaced with glass ones because the kids no longer take them off the tree to play with them.
Even on the last day we were still sweeping up pine needles, beanbag pellets, and small lego pieces. The last bits of ourselves were bagged up and thrown into the back of a friends truck.
Months ago, another lifetime ago, we received an email from the relocation people at Lego telling us that we needed to get to an Embassy Extension Office to start working on our immigration papers. There was loads of paperwork to fill out, print, and take with us. We were so nervous that we had forgotten something or filled something out wrong. When we finally had our turn at the counter it all moved smoothly and we had our photo taken, fingers scanned, and then we were on our way. We stepped out into the sun and looked at each other in shock. Was that all it took? We just wait for a letter now to tell us if we had passed. We took the kids to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan for the day. We visited with friends and told them why we were in the city for the day. We were exhausted by the time we headed back on the train home. The kids headphones were on and they were listening to their audiobooks while Bryan and I caught up on the day.
Now, that day was catching up to us as we stood at the check in counter at Delta Airlines. We had to check in with people at a desk instead of at a kiosk because we didn’t have a return ticket. We needed to show our letters that we were staying in Denmark. Our one way tickets were correct and we weren’t coming back. We stood at the counter with four large checked bags, four small carry ons, and four backpacks. All felt stuffed full and we checked them all as quickly as we could. When we asked if we would be able to make our flight the response was a short laugh. We ran through the airport but airports are full of waiting. We ran to the security line and waited anxiously. We pulled everything out of our bags to have it go quickly through the line. On the other side we rushed to put our shoes back on and ran to our gate. As the woman scanned our tickets she commented that they were about to pull our bags off the plane.
Everyone was buckled in and snacks, water bottles, and iPads were all prepped and ready for the long flight. Bryan and I could finally sit back and relax and breath. Our hearts still felt like they were going to leap out of our chests but we had made it. We squeezed each others hands tightly in disbelief. Disbelief that we had made our flight, that we were moving out of the country. Our biggest and most stressful adventure yet.
