"Get busy living, or get busy dying!" - Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption

August 9th, I tearfully boarded that plane knowing I had just said goodbye to my fave girl, my chest tightening with every breath.  Was this the right thing? We were doing this all wrong.  I was supposed to be dropping her off not the other way around. Was she going to be okay without me.  More importantly, was I going to be okay without her!?  The tears just wouldn't stop coming.  I thought back over the last two weeks and realized how very full my life has been even with its ebbs and flows, it's highs and lows.  During those days, I focused my attention on Camryn, lining up all the things for her trek to college.  I constantly asked her if she was truly okay with this change.  We watched old home movies and laughed heartily at the foolishness that has always been our lives. We had our annual Lucas/Maybank Blowout (which doubled as my going away party), and I had a BLAST!!!   I spent time with my brother and sister and my niece and nephews, knowing that our interactions would soon be limited to phone calls, texts and video chats.  I hugged them both my siblings more tightly than I think ever have before. I wasn't going to see anyone for a year! I'd have to wait till next summer for spray chicken, vodka infused watermelon slushies, a rainbow of jello shots, and macaroni reminiscent of my grandma Helen Lucas's.  I texted my O'Neill cousins who wished me well and shared their  hopes for a safe journey.  I spent some quality time with my mom, eating our fair share of snacks and treats and vowing to make better choices with each bite. I awoke each morning (except one :-)) to the smell of childhood breakfast favourites - shrimp and cream of wheat, grits, bacon, sausage, and salmon patties - and being asked about dinner requests before I could finish eating.  I reached to hug her just because I needed to hug my mom.  I spent a few minutes with my sweet Sassi in her new home and knew she would be in good hands.

Of course, I missed my dad even more and went to the cemetery to make sure I still felt the same about my decision.  I knew if it wasn't right, he'd find a way to let me know, but that peace and serenity was as strong as ever.  And then I made my way to Charlotte to hang out with Camryn and my mom before boarding the plane.

I was nervously excited as expected and didn't sleep long before my alarm sounded, and then, I was off to begin this long awaited journey.  From Charlotte to New York to Dubai to Kuwait, I was watching my life's landscape change as if I were a patron at at movie theatre with only the tears falling from my eyes down my face to remind me that this was indeed my life, and so as I sit her at 1 in the morning on my bed in my new home on the other side of the world, I am comforted by the fact that I am definitely getting busing living cause I refuse to die with the regret of never trying.  #TAOA