Relaxation spent enjoying the beautiful west coast weather and memorable northern Cali food.
Reflection for remembering how things were and what was at different seasons of life while thinking on what my life is now and how different it will be in the years to come.
Closure afforded by being able to say goodbye and my coming to be at peace with the constant changing and shifting of life.
Currently. I've started to read Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life by Eugene O'Kelly. On change and changing, Gene had this to say:
"As I got older, I learned to adjust faster. I cultivated an ability to make big shifts quickly, almost instantly. When something in my life no longer worked, I could abandon it with little sentiment. I did not look back, nor did I digress from my new path. It seemed to me no good came from pretending that what used to be true was still true when clearly it wasn't, or that what really was true, no matter how unpleasant, really wasn't. The quicker one got on with it, the better."
The two year time frame my parents gave me for their move to Memphis abruptly shifted. In July, they moved it down from two years to two months. Two months?! Talk about change. And rapid change at that. I'd better get with it!
Luckily and thankfully, Trace and I were able to get time from work for a week and affordable plane tickets, so we spent the last days of August and the first days of September revisiting old memories while making some new ones.
We left early Saturday morning (thank you, Savannah!) and grabbed a coffee and a cinnamon roll at the airport before take off. I was pensive, engulfed in thoughts about the week to come, how exciting the new chapter of life would be and the sadness of a fond farewell.
We flew from Memphis to Phoenix and Phoenix to Sacramento. The first flight was long and cramped, so we were very happy to be on a bigger jet for the second leg. When we landed, I begged Trace to pause from racing down the escalator so I could procure some much needed Peet's Coffee. Then we met my parents and made the hour drive from Sacramento to Stockton.
It was time to say goodbye to the life I had known, growing up in Stockton. Even if it wasn't particularly enjoyable or special, living in that city laid at least the foundation for who I am and rocketed the desire in me to want more, to want a better life.
We ran some errands later that night, running to Target for some essentials. Then we stopped at Shogun and ordered our favorite roll—the Volcano Roll.
It all felt very familiar and different simultaneously. These are the days of our lives, I could almost hear the old soap opera intro. When we finished dinner, we headed home—the only home I had known for two decades—and drifted to sleep to prepare for the next day's adventure: San Francisco!
