Mixed Feelings

So my sister and her husband are moving to England, effective June 9th, for what looks like probably a couple of years. We've known this was likely for a few months, as they have been actively pursuing it and it was really more a matter of "when," rather than "if," but it became official this week when he was offered a transfer within his company to the London office. This is, of course, very exciting, although I don't envy them the HUGE amount of work they have to do over the next couple of months to get ready to go ... sell their house and cars, arrange storage for the things they won't take with them, pack, get the dog's papers and such in order, get their own papers in order, and the list, I'm sure, is endless. But what a grand adventure! I had a year "away" in Denmark, once upon a time, and it changed me in so many ways, all of them good and meaningful. And, of course, it is not a bad thing for *me* to have someone I can crash with in London. *grin* I intend to make as many trips over as finances and vacation time will allow.

But it is with mixed feelings that I wish them Godspeed and good luck. I will miss them dreadfully. My sister has been my best friend from the day she was born and my brother-in-law has been a close friend and member of the family for more than a decade. I have *loved* having them here in Ottawa for the last three years, and they are going to leave a big hole in my life when they go. We're a very close family and we've always been within arm's reach of each other, or at least within a couple of hours of travel time. It'll be really strange not to have that. Also, London has always been one of my favourite cities in the world, and I feel a little (very selfishly, I admit) jealous that my sister will know it in a way I never will, that it will be her home and her city now. Wonderful for her, slightly bittersweet for me.

The good news is Sis has decided to start blogging about their adventure, so those of us left at home can follow along. So she's been added to the blog roll on the left hand side. I was thinking today about how far technology has come since I was in Denmark 13 years ago. All of my communication with home was done by snail mail and a weekly telephone call. If I had had email and blogging and the interwebz then, how different it would have been!