I got a commercial email the other day advertising some epical weretiger (I think) romance novel called The Tiger's Curse. The tagline was, "Would you risk it all for love?" I burst out laughing. Would I? I did.
I left family, friends, home continent, employment, and a national health system to come, without money, with no visa or plan for same, and with an incurable illness, to a foreign land to be with a woman I'd spent less than three months with, total. Everyone who knew me thought I was insane.
But it turned out well. It never occurred to me that it wouldn't.
Coming to the US to be with Kelley didn't feel like a risk, just a simple choice: live or die. As much a no-brainer as breathe/not breathe. But getting that email the other day stopped me in my tracks. It's good to be reminded that my humdrum life isn't humdrum at all, it's exactly what I chose, one that--for some people--might read like the tagline for a torrid potboiler. Y'know what? I'm okay with that :)
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That's awesome. More power to you and Kelley!
ReplyDeleteYes, we did thing you had gone mad and despite crossness about your 'abandonment' of friends - and for those you were especially close to who we were left to feel protective of (though she never asked for that from us), we knew it was the right thing. We knew it wasn't 'a grand gesture' but the right and only thing that it could have been. Inspiring and typical. Later when we heard of the visa groundbreaking case we knew even more that it was the right thing and some of us felt good thinking that 'the girl done good'. We missed you though. L
ReplyDeleteLel, it wasn't easy. I still miss the life I left. It was a good life. I was happy. But this one, this... Well, this is who I am.
ReplyDeleteHaving your life read like a torrid potboiler sounds pretty good to me!
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I'm just glad it doesn't feel like one. Mostly it feels like an ordinary life, just extra good :)
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