A Different Kind of Farewell

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A little unfinished business to take care of before Norway ?? on Two Wheels begins!

Final edit on a plane bound for London June 26, 2019
Farewell FOR NOW

Life is always about change. As we travel through the seasons of life we encounter change… Good and bad, change we embrace and change we struggle with. As I entered this lastest season of change in my life it’s been a struggle. I can’t say the last couple years haven’t been extremely difficult for me but in true Linda fashion I am now embracing change with the fierceness that I tend to live life with. It’s time to go public with my latest adventure and the major changes coming to my life.

My last MAJOR MAJOR adventure was when I loaded my two young children, Hannah at three and Megan at nine, in a U-Haul truck with their two goldfish and made the 2000+ mile trek across the country to the great Pacific Northwest. We left our family and friends behind and embraced the PNW making our own community of friends and adopting new family. This is a move I can never regret. Our lives were forever changed by that move in so many unbelievable marvelous ways and this has truly become home! The PNW has helped make us who we are. It’s not where I was born but it is where I belong.

Because of that move my family grew. I now have a third daughter, Heidi, and now an amazing son-in-law, Josh, and two wonderful grandsons who brighten my life and whom I love dearly. I’ve also gained a brother… A brother that for the majority of my life I had no inkling existed! It was here that Megan got to adventure to Spain and Hannah got to ride horses. It was here that my daughters all met the loves of their lives. I have two more amazing son-in-law‘s in Austin and Ian. Not to mention more wonderful grandchildren that I love dearly and are my greatest joy!

I have enjoyed an amazing career here working with some of the best educators I’ve ever known and in some amazing schools! Not to mention the students...Oh my gosh the students! You all have touched my life in such an amazing way. There have been so many amazing students here and back in the Midwest who have greatly blessed my life!
Thank you!

It’s here that I took up cycling and at one time running although that season has passed. I have established an amazing community of friends that are so near and dear to my heart! I found the church I searched for during my youth. A place of love and acceptance and forward thinking! Thank you St. Marks for being a true place of grace and community.

Tacoma is my home. The PNW is my home! I can’t imagine finding a better place to live! But it is time to go totally public. It is time for another MAJOR MAJOR adventure. After my grand trip to Norway, which I am on as this goes live, and then to Canada after this, I will be moving to Las Vegas! This time I am loading my 13 year old dog and 14 year old cat into a UHAUL and making the 18 hour trek to VEGAS BABY! On August 31st I start work with Clark County School District as a counselor at Western High School! I know huh....it makes my head spin too. Unlike my move in 97 that was well thought out, researched and planned this one is totally spontaneous and the decision was made during the span of a phone call! Then it was one trip to Vegas and I landed a job and it became real. Now the POD and the rental truck and the movers have been hired and it is a done deal.

I apologize if you are finding this out as you read. I tried to tell as many people as I could and now I have simply run out of time. This is not a final farewell my friends. My plan is to return in about 5 years. I still have children and grandchildren here and, as I have said, this is my home. My people are here. My heart hurts to leave my family here but I have family joining me in Vegas that my heart has ached for these past 3 years. It is my time to be near them a while, but I will return! You’ll see me around summers and holidays often - can’t imagine summers in Vegas. First order of business, after a large house (room for lots of company) with a pool is purchased, is a new vehicle and a camper so I can summer at HOME!

If you’d like to come say goodbye please join me and my family Sunday, July 28 at 8:30am as my church family at St. Marks Lutheran Church in Tacoma sends me off on my latest pilgrimage. Or mark your calendars for October 5. My birthday present to myself is a farewell party with my family and friends. Stay tuned for details. Tentatively the party is slated for the afternoon and evening of that day. I hope you will join me for one of these occasions or, better yet, come visit me in Vegas. I’ll save a seat by the pool for you!

Also I can’t end this without saying thanks to my amazing family who has loved me and supported me thru all my craziness. They are my rock, my inspiration and my deepest joy! I love you all...each and everyone of you for the unique and amazing individual you are .... Megan, Ian and Colin and Heidi, Josh, Matthias and Josiah and Hannah, Austin, Elaina and our newest member HARVIN! I can’t wait to get to know him. ❤️

Buen Camino!

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Comments

[Shirley]

You have had the most interesting life. Be safe, keep us posted. God Bless