How Did We Get Here---Tracy

“Whaddya mean, you wanna move to Beijing, China—are you crazy?”

I’m sure you can guess my attitude as I initially reacted to my husband’s question, but a little background is probably in order for you to get a good feel of the depth of my emotions just then.

Our kids have all left the nest, I recently graduated from the University of Washington and just started my dream job in archaeology, I have my husband all to myself, and now have grandbaby times two, one 18 months old, the other four weeks old, and we live in beautiful Victor! Life doesn’t get any better!

And then, one nice fall Friday, there I was, minding my own business, cleaning my Archaeology field gear and getting ready for the next dig site, when my husband comes home and asks, “How would you feel about moving to China for three years?” I am hit with so many images at once I actually had a stupor of thought (a first for me!). Then everything started flooding in all at once—leave my grandbabies, sell the house and cars, quit my job, and did I already mention LEAVE MY GRANDBABIES? He also said that there was no pressure—we had until Monday to decide.

Well, after a long weekend of weighing the pros and cons, and much internet research about China’s history and culture, I finally crossed my arms and agreed to go, but only if the kids agreed to come for long visits, and if we can come back for regular home vacations.

 We called all the kids to break the news to them.  They were not as distraught as I had thought they would be, and were actually very supportive about the whole thing. As it turns out the kids and their families plan to come for extended visits.

By Sunday night, I must admit that I, too, was excited about the adventure that we and our family would get to have. 

So, here we are four weeks later, getting the house and cars ready to sell, untangling ourselves from our community commitments, starting our Mandarin lessons and waiting  for our visas.  We have also been in contact with our church in China and real-estate agents that will be guides on getting our lives set up there.  

Life is made up of small steps in one direction or another, and it’s usually only when we look back that we can see the magnitude of the turns and changes that those small steps have made for us.  One of those turns is before my family and me right now and we have chosen the road that leads to China. We will miss everyone here terribly, but are really excited for this wonderful opportunity!