Farewell Tour

The farewell tour is complete. Shannon and I are currently on a plane from New Jersey back to the great, hot, South. It’s hard to describe my thoughts on this whole process. We were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to see my step-dad, mom, sister, niece, grandmother, aunt, cousins, and friends for a while. We had the chance to share some laughs, some meals, and some drinks. We still have some work to do in packing, going away parties in Florida, and a few other loose ends but it was certainly nice to visit my family before leaving.

It’s always been interesting to me to hear people say they don’t know what they had until it was gone. It’s a saying I've heard applied to a variety of things, but most common for when a loved one passes away or a relationship ends. I think it’s through that scope that I am able to be fully appreciative of everything I have. I am not losing my family and friends, but the goodbye of a temporary leave to a new country seems to leave me with the same sense of fleeting momentary appreciation that is only truly felt upon loss. I suppose in that regard I am lucky to be afforded the opportunity, but I sure as hell am going to miss them all as Shannon and I go on our adventure.

During our trip, we had the opportunity to cross a few things off of our “United States Bucket List.” I know it seems kind of corny, but it’s something I wanted to make sure we did so we didn’t regret anything before we left. On this particular trip we crossed off a few things on my list; we took my parents out to breakfast (it was delicious as pork roll, egg, and cheese hoagies always are), went to the Atlantic City Boardwalk to see the sights and play some mini-golf, got some cheesesteaks from Pat’s in South Philly, and got to go to a Phillies game to tailgate and watch the game (big win). I am leaving on this trip pleased with the way we spent our time. To any of my friends and family in New Jersey, I love you all and I’m going to miss you. Thank you for the great time this week.

While the trip was a good time as a whole, I think the highlight for me may have been my niece’s dance recital. She is but a wee little one and of course a dance recital starring people that barely reach the height requirement of being human was adorable. For her number, she wore a Hawaiian grass skirt and danced to some Disney song. It was great. About halfway through the song, the fog machine kicked in to really set off the Bon-Joviesque choreography, but this was not discussed in the pre-dance planning boardroom with the dancers. Most of the little girls stopped all of their hula dancing and immediately focused on the fog machine for the duration of the dance. There was attempted scooping, giggling, and other symptoms of omnipresent wonder and amusement.

Thinking about this fog-fiasco got me thinking. I am going to miss all of my family for every other traditional reason people miss family such as meals, holidays, occasional judgmental behind the back gossip and the like. But above all of that, I am going to miss the tiny moments. I am going to miss being there for the unexpected moments where my niece discovers something for the first time and is overwhelmed with curiosity as my grandmother snorttles her laughter with uncontrollable volume that echoed through the auditorium with the bone rattling impact of a T-Rex. (Yes I had to invent a word for the noise her laugh makes) I am going to miss those daily occurrences of life that people talk about for years with reverence and appreciation.

I realize that I’ve lived far away from my family for a few years now and this has been an issue for a while but I just wanted to express my thoughts before we leave. In no way is this admission a moment of regret for our pending travels, it is merely an acknowledgement for my family. I want them to know how much I love them, and how much I enjoy those moments I get to be a part of. I do not regret my decision to leave New Jersey because without it I would never have met some of the wonderful people in my life, I would never have had the opportunity to achieve some of the career successes I've had,  I would never have shared some of the experiences I've had, and I would have never met Shannon. I am approaching our pending trip to Ecuador with equal parts excitement, anticipation, and appreciation for both the memories I've made with my loved ones and also the future memories I will make with them and more people I've yet to meet. All in all it was a great trip.