One of the fears or concerns that I’ve dealt with since making the decision to travel the world is all of the “what if’s” pertaining to life back at home.  From the “what if one of my plethora of cousins is getting married?”  That would be something I would hate to miss.  To the more tragic “what if someone close to me passes away?”  I have come to the conclusion that life happens, and there’s nothing you can do about it.  If you leave something, such as home and family, then you will undoubtedly miss things at home with your family.  Birthdays, graduations, parties and get togethers will all be missed.  Just when I was coming to terms with the possibility of missing big events at home, something amazing happened.

My sister surprised my family with the news that there is a baby on the way.  I was beyond thrilled, but when I found out the baby was due in November, well into our journey, I was a little bummed out.  I have been at almost every family function my entire life, and it feels weird and a little wrong to not be there at such a big moment.  But that’s life.  It’s funny that I was thinking about all of the potential big moments that might happen at home while I’m on the road, but I never entertained the possibility that I’d find something out like this before ever leaving. The great part about 2017 is the fact that we do have things like Skype, FaceTime and Google Hangouts so I will be able to get my “face time” with my future Yankee/Giant/Ranger fan niece or nephew.  And although it’s tough to predict where I’ll be or if it will be feasible to get home, I hope to be able to return to the States for a long weekend around the baptism to meet the baby and become godfather (insert Vito Corleone reference here).

So as you can see, this amazing news has been bittersweet for me.  The fact that life happens smacked me right in the face unexpectedly.  It was a great reminder to myself of all the great things about home I will miss, however it’s also a time for me to be excited.  I have my own great things to look forward to, and my own journey to embark on.  I can’t wait to get the email with the news of a new addition to the family.  And I look forward to the day when I am on a video chat with my family across the world, “meeting” the new bundle of joy for the first time.  And won’t it be that much sweeter when I finally get to meet him/her in person at some point down the line?  There’s a lot to be excited about in my family these days.  And the best is yet to come.

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5/5/17