November 21
Nideggen-Rath, Germany
The first day of the first week of a new chapter in a long life … His Holiness is sleeping with Mama in the room down the hall. As usual, I have been up for hours padding around this still unfamiliar, rambling old farmhouse where Mama grew up, nestled in the gentle hills of the Eifel in Western Germany. It’s very quiet here and very clean.
Later this morning we will venture into Cologne for our first look at potential neighborhoods. It is all becoming real, but slowly. In between: having neither ended the process of saying good bye to New York nor begun the process of admitting that I live in Germany, but I can feel something happening, a well of emotions churning. There are things unsettled back in the states that I would have preferred to have behind me but which remain stubbornly unfinished. I hope soon to be able to let go … but letting go is … well, what much of this is about.
At the same time I feel some relief at being here, as if I have shed a skin that had grown heavy and worn and now have the rare opportunity to grow a new one, even if my capacity to renew is somewhat diminished. Turning points such as this are an opportunity to take a fresh look. So I choose today to view the world from thirty-six inches above the ground, to both lead and follow His Holiness as we explore life together in the coming years.
The first day of the first week of a new chapter in a long life … His Holiness is sleeping with Mama in the room down the hall. As usual, I have been up for hours padding around this still unfamiliar, rambling old farmhouse where Mama grew up, nestled in the gentle hills of the Eifel in Western Germany. It’s very quiet here and very clean.
Later this morning we will venture into Cologne for our first look at potential neighborhoods. It is all becoming real, but slowly. In between: having neither ended the process of saying good bye to New York nor begun the process of admitting that I live in Germany, but I can feel something happening, a well of emotions churning. There are things unsettled back in the states that I would have preferred to have behind me but which remain stubbornly unfinished. I hope soon to be able to let go … but letting go is … well, what much of this is about.
At the same time I feel some relief at being here, as if I have shed a skin that had grown heavy and worn and now have the rare opportunity to grow a new one, even if my capacity to renew is somewhat diminished. Turning points such as this are an opportunity to take a fresh look. So I choose today to view the world from thirty-six inches above the ground, to both lead and follow His Holiness as we explore life together in the coming years.
posted by Berlinbound at 8:59 AM
4 Comments:
Ah, so good to hear that you've arrived in one piece! Here's to a fresh start. Hopefully your new life in Germany will turn out to be everything you imagined it to be.
The Eifel is (in my humble opinion) one of the most beautiful regions I've ever lived in. I'm not sure where you are of course but I live at the beginning of the Eifel, Bad-Neuenahr-Ahrweiler.
I'm glad you and your family arrived safely and that you've started out somewhere quiet and peaceful. The weather is really crappy so it's not doing the landscape much justice.
And yes, it is so nice to really get a chance to have a new start!
Here here to a new way of life! Glad that all went well :-)
I can actually hear the peace in your voice, the calm of your soul. Not many people are willing to take a risk these days; to folow their heart. You have and it is noble and true to you, and your family. What a wonderful thing. New beginnings.
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