G'day Bob,

 GG>>> The tickets are sorted out. I leave Saginaw on 10 Dec and
 BL>
 GG>> All tickets, passport and Visa are in my possession now. :-)
 BL>
 BL>   Oo, oo, oo! Only ten days to go... and then Saginaw, suck an oar!

 Not bad calculating, Bob.  It is 10 days.  (I leave in 7 though).
 Pity it's not taking 4 days though.  I could use the Simon and
 Garfunkle tune and sing "Australia" in place of "America".  :-)

 BL>> How do you feel... renewed, or sad to quit the old life?
 BL>
 GG>> A bit of both...
 BL>
 GG>> Actually, I've been so busy that I've not had much time to feel
 GG>> anything more than exhausted. I finished writing my book on 11
 GG>> Nov, and since that time have been going flat chat trying to
 GG>> take care proofing, editing and formatting. It's 17 chapters
 GG>> and 4 appendices of material, and I want it finished by time I
 GG>> leave on the 10th.
 BL>
 BL>   It'll catch up with you... leaving is always sad.

 Uh-huh.  I've been told several times though that I have an advantage
 over a lot of other immigrants.  At least I've been to Australia and
 have seen all two seasons, met the people I'll be spending my life
 with, etc.  A lot of immigrants come without any real sense of what
 they're getting into, having never been here before.  And worse, they
 take the word of a family member, if you know what I mean.

 Heck, the family member may just be lonely and wanting their relies to
 come for the company and tell them just about anything.  I've seen
 this here with the Mexican immigrants coming into the US.

 GG>> As to waxing philosophical, I haven't really given myself time.
 GG>> I can say that I've come to like each of my kids as
 GG>> individuals. The time away from them and knowing I'm leaving
 GG>> again has given me a new perspective. I still very much believe
 GG>> they will have things better for them with me not there. It
 GG>> doesn't mean I won't be communicating with them, as each have
 GG>> learned how to do email and I've taught the oldest how to pick
 GG>> up mail and send it using his Dads computer so when Mike is
 GG>> away or too busy to start the computer up, they can still reach
 GG>> me.
 BL>
 BL>   Boys quit their mother around that age anyway, so 10,000 miles
 BL> away is not a bad place to be. The next time you know them they
 BL> might even be human.

 :-)   The two youngest tell me they don't think they'd ever wanna come
 visit me in Australia (dunno why though - I was too surprised to ask),
 and the oldest says he'd like to visit when he's older.

 GG>> I will truly miss my oldest. He's gone from being a gangly
 GG>> little twit to a really decent teenager - the kind you never
 GG>> read about but know exists. He's now taller than me and has a
 GG>> deeper voice, which changed in the last 7 months. I'm quite
 GG>> proud of him as he's seems to fit in with the world around him
 GG>> (not the nicest of places) very well, and there was a time when
 GG>> I reckoned he'd never quite fit anywhere.
 BL>
 BL>   I went through something similar (on a reduced scale) with my
 BL> brother's kids. They lived with us for the first 7 years upstairs at
 BL> the old house, and then went to Queensland. The link you forge early
 BL> is always there, and the genes really do call to each other. It's a
 BL> nice surprise to rediscover the new adults.

 :-)   Of course, he I get to skip the learning to drive the car phase
 and dating phases.   I had a hard time with the "learning how to use a
 steak knife" phase in his life, so maybe it's just as well I won't be
 here to cringe.  

 GG>> Mike is still a nice person, and as a friend I quite like him.
 GG>> Our divorce will be final in the next few weeks. We've already
 GG>> been to court to deal with child support (neither of us
 GG>> "caused" this, it's a state thing). It was definitely different
 GG>> because we arrived and left together, and confused the attorney
 GG>> who though he was supposed to be trashing Mike (I hate
 GG>> lawyers), but found out he had to trash me instead. It worked
 GG>> out in the end.
 BL>
 BL>   I've never really been able to understand the bitterness between
 BL> married couples who break up. It's much more adult to simply work
 BL> the system...

 Which is basically what we've been doing. We've both seen to many
 nasty divorces and had no desire (or time even) for such nonsense. If
 you can ever have a good divorce, this would be it, as there've been
 no arguments and no problems at all.  I signed the house over to him,
 he's not asking for anything and neither am I.

 BL>   To me, the only sensible emotion on breaking up is regret. Spite
 BL> is such a pointless thing.

 There's no spite in this divorce.  Respect, and mutual desire to get
 on with life, but no spite.  And not even regret, as I don't think
 either of us regrets having been married, but we have both come to the
 conclusion that to be fair to the other, it's time we move on.

 BL>   Parents are basically arseholes... they think they own you, or
 BL> have shares, anyway. I don't think they ever understand how much
 BL> power they
 BL> have to hurt you, because children get very good at hiding it.

 That's true. And even of myself with my kids.  :-(
 I don't regret having them, and I'm glad they are in the world, but I
 do feel guilt in leaving them.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't.
 But I also know they have a world ahead of them just as I do, and I
 would hope when they grow up that they would learn from me that when
 something is wrong that can be fixed, even if it's not an easy road,
 then they should follow what their heart and soul tells them.


 GG>> It's a lot like knowing you're dying, I reckon. There's pain,
 GG>> and there's something to "look forward to," and there's
 GG>> waiting.
 BL>
 BL>   ROFL! A new life in the true sense. I'm not really a traveller. I
 BL> like things quiet, and easy, and mostly unchanged. It's only a pity
 BL> that life's not like that.

 :-)   But that is me, though.  I don't like change, and I'm a
 homebody. But I found out my home is with Rod, so I'll just have to be
 with him and then carry on with being a hermitess... just 11,000 miles
 from where I started.  

 GG>> I look forward to feeling whole again.
 BL>
 GG>> 
... show the
 GG>> 
 BL>
 BL>   (grin) It'll be interesting to see how different it is this time,
 BL> after a final commitment. All migrants have to go through it, and
 BL> Australia has more of those than most. Belonging takes a long time.

 I've no doubt your correct on this, and even for Rod and for Mum, too
 this time is different.  But, it's certainly better than coming over
 without having any idea of what I'm getting myself into (and ditto
 for Rod and Mum).

 When I arrived in Adelaide a year and 8 months ago, I was shaking like
 a leaf and didn't stop for several hours, because even though Rod and
 I had been communicating for over a year, it was still a big step for
 a hermitess from Saginaw.

 BL> 20 years seems to be a minimum... and you'll never have that feeling
 BL> of roots into the soil itself like Abos do (and me).
                                                     ^^
 LOL    And Vicki too.  :-)

 BL>> In any case, the World is a pretty manageable size nowadays and
 BL>> Oz is not a bad place to be... even Adelaide.
 BL>
 GG>> Or a few KM south, even. :-)
 BL>
 BL>   Adelaide would be my second choice of city after Sydney. They've
 BL> got a similar "free" feeling.

And it's bigger than Saginaw, has heaps more to offer (if I ever leave
the workshop for more than running weekly errands).  Reynella is far
enough from the city as to be very comfortable, but close enough that
it's not too much of a hassle.  With a bus stop right out front and
shops in walking distance, it really is quite nice.

And then of course, I get to wake up next to Rod every morning.


Cheers,
Gaelyne

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