Thoughts of Home

My husband recently announced that he's now finally agreed to relocate to the US for a few years. He still hasn't even started looking for a job in the US yet. But now that the announcement has been made rather than just some obscure promise of "someday", it has the feeling of being real and I can't say how much this means to me - the chance to go home. Since before my kids were even conceived, I've dreamed of showing them where I grew up. I want them to see me on my own turf, not just always as a foreigner unable to speak the language properly. I want them to see fireflies and listen to cicadas chirping in the summertime. I want them to know what the Christmas Season really is, even for non-religious or even non-Christian Americans. I want them to know about Haunted Houses and candy corn. I want them to experience hay rides and swimming at the lake. I want them to see a rodeo and go to baseball games where they can eat corn dogs and root beer floats afterwards. I want them to know what Monday night football is and to have a favorite team to root for. I want my kids to go to summer picnics where potato salad and macaroni salad aren't weird foreign food. I want them to know what a Peanut Buster Parfait and a brownie fudge sundae are. I want them to go to a school where P.E. class can be done indoors in the auditorium on cold rainy days. I want them to know what a Sonic Drive-In is. I want them to know what caroling and hot spiced cider are and to be able to make snow angels in their own front yard. I want the kids to have a neighbor bring Christmas cookies over in December and the kids in turn not think it's weird, but rather be glad and invite them in for some hot cocoa or this year's running of The Grinch. I want them to know what it feels like to go on a real Easter Egg hunt. I want them to know what Easter Peeps are...even if they end up thinking they're as disgusting as I do. I want to be able to fill their Easter baskets with all of those candies that you can only get at Easter time. I want them to know what it feels like to walk in the rain on a warm summer evening. I want them to go Trick-or-Treating, even if it does end up just being in the mall. I want them to experience a five day school week and a two day weekend. I just want them to know my kind of normal life. So, here's to this promise and the desperate hope that it will materialize into a reality. If everything goes as planned, this time next year I'll be writing a blog post from the US detailing how successful our move has been so far. Until then, I'll just do my best to keep my excitement under control.