Happy (?) Anniversary

No, I'm not talking about Harry and I. We are happy (most days) and it will be THIRTY years for us this September. If I'm not happy with him now, I figure I never will be! And I've almost got him trained. He would say the same about me!! Anyway....I digress.

It is hard for me to believe but a year ago the end of this month, on April 29, we flew back to the US from Russia, for good. Wow, a year. That seems like a long time when I say it out loud. And most days I still miss Moscow more than I can bear. Even after a year.

In some respects being here has it's advantages of course. I love that my dad & Maxine are so close. They can drop by or meet us for dinner, or we can go over to Ponca City. I love it that Meghan and Jacob are a mere 5-hour-drive away. If I'm needed for wedding plans I'm there. I love it that Harry's mom and 2 of his sisters are in OKC, just a few hours down the road. The grocery store is easy. Driving is easy. I love my house. Can I say it again....I.LOVE.MY.HOUSE.

I remember the days when I could NOT wait to have a reason to leave Russia. Our first trip out was to Rome. Our former priest and friend, and my boss, was on Sabbatical in Rome. He would be available to tour us around a bit. I was so excited! I loved every minute of our trip. Right up until we were sitting at the airport. Then I cried like a baby. I didn't WANT to go back to Moscow. Rome had been warm and sunny and friendly. Moscow was going to be cold and dreary and unfriendly (especially passport control!) Harry would be going back to Naryan Mar and I would once again be alone during the long week. But it was more than that. It didn't feel like home yet. Far from it. We had only been there since mid-January. It still felt weird and uncomfortable.

But something happened over the years. It became home. I remember when I had my "passport issue" (a long story and written about earlier in this blog) and I had to go back to Houston for almost a month. I felt out of place in the US, and mind you, this was after I had been thrown out of the country! But somehow, it was still home. Of course, Harry was there, Abby was there, friends were there. It felt like home! Blake Shelton had a song out at that time called "I Wanna Go Home." It became my anthem! I always said Russia gets under your skin and into your heart. And by then, it was clearly in my heart.

People often say, what did you like so much about Russia. It is so hard to tell people who have never lived there what it is about the place. Because on the surface, it seems like there is not much to like!! It's cold a lot of the year, it appears unfriendly most of the time, it's dirty and gray. It's a big, gritty city. But live there a while, and you begin to see beneath the surface, to the real heart of the city, the people.....both natives and people who choose to live there. The summer comes and you see the beauty of a city that has been there for 865 years! It suddenly becomes an amazing place to live.

Another friend said Russia was one of those postings where you cried because you had to go, and then you cried because you had to leave. No truer words were ever spoken!