Pack Out From Taipei

This morning my fragile bubble of denial was burst when a herd of packers swept into my home and began wrapping up our life in Taiwan both literally and figuratively.

Moving is never fun whether you are moving across the hall or across the world. However, international moves have this nasty side effect of leaving you without your belongings for 6 weeks to 3.5 months while everything sails on a freighter across the wide ocean, leaving you to wonder if they power the thing with sails or what?!
When we were packed out from California I had no idea what I was doing and looking back I have to give myself credit for doing a pretty dang good job with zero guidance. Having said that, I have been so grateful for all that I have learned so that I could apply it to this move, bringing my stress level down out of the red zone. I am even more grateful that on this end of things, 98% of my friends here have experienced the gauntlet that is international moving and therefore have been unbelievably understanding and helpful.
But at the end of the day the reality is, we are still moving.

I am not usually one to cry but lately I find myself emotional at the most unexpected and embarrassing times. We had a little Farewell luncheon for Kennedy and her 4 good friends came. They are four of the sweetest, most well mannered girls and I sat there holding back tears, overcome with gratitude that after years of praying for Kennedy to find true friends and be in healthy friendships, our prayers were answered this year. Fully and generously.

In a stroke of genius our friends threw us the most amazing Festivus Farewell party, our 5th in Taipei. It was a month early since Festivus should be Dec. 23 but we will be gone. That night I laughed so hard my stomach was sore for days afterward. Several of our friend's "Grievances" got me emotional, one in particular, I was laughing so hard I was tearing up, then all at once it hit me- how much we loved these people, how much they loved us, and how much we were going to miss them- and suddenly I was doing the strangest sob/laugh combo you never want to see.

The common denominator in these inconvenient emotional outbursts is gratitude. Overwhelming gratitude. When I think about how these last 4.5 years have stretched us (often painfully) and how much it has made us grow, I turn into a cliche'. "I"m overcome", "I'm overwhelmed",  and "My heart is full."
Everything is happening so fast and our days in Taipei are dwindling. I just had to write the way we feel and why we feel it before everything is overshadowed by us missing our friends and this country we have truly come to love.