Leaving Home

Mitch and Titus
see all photos »

Leaving home was pretty hard - but I knew that it would be.  I love family so much and am sad that I will miss so much of the kids lives while I am overseas.  However, technology has come a LONG way since we were kids and living in South America without a clue of what our extended family was up to far away in Texas.

I wanted a fun, family focused dinner for my last night so we chose Buca di Beppo, a family style Italian Restaurant.  Lorrie, and the boys drove me to the restaurant south of Nashville in Franklin where Joy, David and the kids were staying.  We had a little trouble finding the place - but got a nice tour of the Franklin mall and surrounding areas.

Be strong and courageous. . . . for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Joy and David
see all photos »

We had a wonderful time at dinner.  Titus was on his best behaviour - as usual.  The food was incredible and I had a lot of fun trying out my new camera that I had purchased earlier in the day.

Once we got back to Lorrie's house, I thought it would be a good idea to call the airlines just to double check on the weight requirements for my suitcases.  My friend Scott who travels all the time had thought 70 pounds each.  I knew that I was over on both of them so also wanted to find out how much my fines were going to be.  Lorrie got on the phone while I finished packing.

LOVE this one . . . Titus is just cracking up!
see all photos »

YIKES - weight requirements changed in August . . . it is now 50 pounds per checked bag.  After being passed to one department after another, Lorrie was able to get some advice from someone who actually knew what was going on with International baggage.  They recommended that I overload one bag with as much as I could get in it and keep the other one at 50 pounds.  My fines would be significantly lower this way as you receive the same fine regardless of whether you are one pound overweight or 40.

Joy and Titus
see all photos »

So - at 11:00 PM, I begin repacking my carefully packed suitcases.  It is quickly obvious that I will not be taking everything with me as planned.  With one suitcase weighing in at 90 pounds, and the other at 49 -- I left behind a box of things that weren't critical for Lorrie to ship to me on the next sea shipment leaving in May.

Everybody went to bed and I began going over my checklists . . . I think I finally fell asleep around 4:00 AM, but popped right back up at 5:30 when the alarm went off.  We had breakfast and coffee with the boys and sent them off to school.  This was now my 10,000th goodbye and they were getting HARDER - not easier.  I had said goodbye to my Austin friends and headed to Dallas.  Then, goodbye to Rickey, Chas, Mom and Dwight there and headed to Tennessee.

such a big boy!
see all photos »

Lorrie and I packed up and headed for Atlanta.  The trip was really nice.  We even left early enough to slip in a stop in Chattanooga for lunch at our favorite bbq place - Sticky Fingers . . . YUM!  If you ever get the chance - it is really spectacular!!!!

Mom had sent something to Lorrie to give to me when she said goodbye.  I was a crying mess when Lorrie handed it to me.  Bags were checked in and I had three hours until my plane was supposed to take off.  I headed for my gate.

Lorrie getting some sugar!
see all photos »

Thoughtful Mom had sent a miniature quilt inscribed with Joshua 1:9 -- Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

She included a letter about how, almost 40 years earlier she and Dad had headed for Colombia with two small children.  They did not yet know Spanish (nor had they been communicating with a host family via email for the past six months).  Apparently, there had been a mix up and no one was waiting for them at the airport in Bogota.

and Colton getting some sugar in his own special way!
see all photos »

I finished the letter and looked up.  Just then, a troop of uniformed Army soldiers walked by on the way to their gate.  Not one of them looked over 20 years old.  I immediately stopped crying and said to myself . . . wow -- they have no idea if they are coming back or not.  I am headed for a fairly stable country - I've done this before . . . I have God's protection.  "Now, start diving in to the adventure!!!!!"