"...We left home on a cold, February day early in the morning. Six months prior, I finished eight grade at the local elementary school. A family friend drove us to the airport. We flew to Frankfurt from where we transferred to another, larger plane bound for New York. "Mom, are we really going to our new home?" My little brother asked impatiently while fidgeting with his seat belt. She looked at him with a warm smile and said: "Yes, darling, we're relocating, and now we're flying to our brand, new home." It's during that moment, on that plane, that it finally occurred to me. From now on, my new home will be a country, a city completely unknown to me. But what about my old home? Will it still be there when I get back? Am I ever going to come back? I looked outside the window and all I could see was white, randomly shaped clouds. I imagined that the clouds where moving with the plane. I tried to look harder through the window and see if I could spot anything else. I couldn't see a thing. I was hundreds of miles up in the air. I couldn't wait to finally hit the ground."(excerpt from a memoir by J. Pietkiewicz, 2012).
As I am making preparations to move to Europe, I am wondering about my new home. For a long time, I've been trying to figure out where my home is... I've lived in New York for over twenty years. In a few months, I will be making a complete u-turn. I will be moving back to Poland. Not visiting, as I have done in the past but actually moving addresses. In addition, I will be moving my disposition, my memories, my life experience and much more...It's funny, someone once told me that no matter what happens and how long I live in America, I'll always be Polish. On the contrary, coming back to Poland, I'll always be an American. I am curious if they were right...
Stay tuned, as I will be updating this blog on what happens when you make a complete 360...and go back to your homeland after twenty years of living abroad. Will I be happy with my new decision? Will I stay? Or will I go somewhere else in search of the ever elusive "home"?
As my Mom would say..."home is where your heart is..."
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| Google images, Audrey Hepburn quotes. |
