A time when our old life will end and a new will begin. In the eight years we've been talking about moving to Israel, we've always referred to our moving date as "someday" or " when we get there".
Now it is August 31, 2010.
Exactly two years from our wedding day. How poignant is it to be beginning our new life together on the same exact day we began our life together? Nefesh B'nefesh charters their flights to Israel to fly over new immigrants and gave us a couple of dates to choose from. I don't believe in signs, but if I did....well this one would be a doozy.
It is a bit unnerving knowing the day of our departure. I am a bit overwhelmed in the reality. August 31, 2010 is just so very real, so very soon. It is not just politely knocking on my doorstep, but pounding furiously. Announcing itself in such grand fashion and forcing me to view the next few months in sheer "how-am-I-going-to-do-all-this" panic. 131 days to get make the last 8 years of planning and 26 years of living fit into a 10x15 storage unit and 4 suitcases.
There are boxes to pack and furniture to store. Cars to sell and aparments to find. Paperwork to finish and Hebrew to learn. Memories to make and goodbyes to say. All before my time expires.
Like anything with an expiration date, use it too far past due and it can leave an strange taste in your mouth. Maybe this will hold true for my American life....maybe the further on the other side of August 31 I will begin to feel more Israeli than American. More now than when. The further I get from my old life, the less I'll remember what it tasted like, smelled like, felt like. The more I'll fit into the new.
At least that's what I am hoping for.
