Home to Oregon

There's this funny thing about home. Home is such a weird idea really. It's not so much a place for many people. My brother the consumate traveller said that "home is where your suitcase is."

But for my husband it's Colorado. For me it will always be the Northwest, specifically Oregon and Washington states.

Brian and I both grew up in the Northwest, but we were also born in different countries. When people ask me where I'm from, it's always been a tough one to answer. I was born in Brazil to American parents who were there for 8 years, then moved back to the States.

We lived first in Eastern Oregon, the Western Washington, and I lived in Seattle for the first 15 years of my adult life, and I finally felt like I had a city that I could call my adopted home.

For years, I felt like an odd-man out, just because I never belonged anywhere. I used to envy people whose roots were deep, whose families had spent generations in one spot.

As early as my Dad's early childhood, those roots existed in my family too. Grandma Peterson lived for 60 years in one house on 2395 High Street in a town not far from Portland, and until she died, it was the house that emotionally anchored me and my family because we knew that was the one thing that did not change in the midst of all our moves.

My Dad was born and raised in Oregon -- mostly in and around Portland, and went to the University of Oregon. Mom always joked that he was such an Oregon Duck that he had webbed feet.

Jokes against the Oregon State Beavers go like this recent line from my brother, who said "I have a friend named John and he might be able to find you a house in the area. Aside from being a Beaver, he is fairly trustworthy..."

My husband accepted a position in Oregon today.

He's actually happy about it now, and seems to enjoy the prospect of a new adventure and a new start for our family. This wasn't taken lightly, given how much we both love it here in Denver.

But in the end, I think it is the best decision. We will be moving soon, from the Rocky Mountain state to the Oregon Territory, a move that I never thought would happen, but now I'm thrilled to say IS going to happen. We'll live within an hour or two of my Mom and brother, and just a few away from my sister and other family.
We'll live near the coast, my gorgeous Pacific Ocean, where I still stand as an adult, feeling so small and delightfully insignificant, and trying to picture Japan and China at the other end of the horizon.

A much as I'll miss Colorado, there will be no more Christmases alone and wishing we could get home. And what really does it for me is that I smile at the thought of my baby growing up knowing his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.