Moving Forward

For the past several weeks, the first thing I think about when I wake up is how much time we have left in Wrangell. Well, now Scott and I are down to one day. One more full day in Wrangell, and it’s a jarring thought. I can only write for myself, but I can imagine it’s that much harder for Scott who’s been here for six and a half years and in Alaska for seven and a half.

We’ve had some farewell parties and some parting gifts. Our house is a clutter of leftover objects that need to find a place, whether it’s in a tote to be put in the truck, in the garbage can, in a box for the Salvation Army bin, or eventually to a friend’s house. I gave away the last two plants yesterday to Kim, which felt good as I’ve always admired the plants at the Fish and Game office when I frequently visited, and now two new plants will exist there also.

We’ve been scouring and washing, vacuuming and wiping. The kitchen cupboards are empty and clean. Now it’s on to the counters, then the floors. We have a few errands to run today, but they are all minor compared to saying goodbye. I picture myself an endless faucet of tears at the ferry terminal, but we’ll see. Others are leaving tomorrow as well, before us on the jet, so perhaps there won’t be too many people at the ferry.

I’ve gone through a series of emotions over the past few weeks – of dread, of sadness, of fear mostly – but the excitement is just beginning. The excitement of our journey ahead, which includes a ferry ride to Prince Rupert, a drive through Canada to the border of Montana and eventually to Saratoga, Wyoming, a flight from Denver to New York, then a flight to Cairo, and from Cairo, four more stops until Tanzania, where the real journey begins.

Life is about motion, which I think is an idea Bob was saying yesterday when he said goodbye, perhaps to make sense of the moment. That’s all Scott and I are doing – we’re moving. I don’t think we’re moving on; that statement makes it sound like we’ve outgrown the place we’re leaving, but that’s not it. It’s more like if we didn’t leave now, we might never. And so, we’re moving – not on – we’re moving forward. And who knows, each step forward might just lead us back to Wrangell.