Today would have been nan’s 90th birthday and next Tuesday will be my 34th.
I’d love to pick up the phone and call her; I’d sing a bad rendition of happy birthday, ask her about her day and tell her, “talk to you in a week!” One week later she’d call me and sing to me. Just like we’ve done every other year for as many years as I’ve been living away from her.
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Zach and I moved to Las Vegas, NV in 2007. We weren’t far from my family in AZ but felt worlds away from the rest of our family. And when we moved to Austin, TX in 2013 we felt worlds away from AZ. We would talk about moving closer to family but could never settle on a location as we couldn’t decide between siblings or parents who were spread from AZ to RI. (We love you all equally.)
And then I read this post that visually lays out the human lifespan after my sister shared it on Facebook. And then I found this project that explains why time flies.
And we ultimately decided that we wanted to live everywhere and see everyone; we didn’t have to choose between one or the other. I’ve always felt a little transient by nature anyway and talks about living in an RV surfaced regularly in previous conversations with Zach. At one point, we had a 5-year plan with Google calendar check-in reminders along the way; I think our launch date at the time was tentatively scheduled for 2017. We hit the road in April 2016.
We started in Arizona where I was able to spend the entire month of May with my parents, sister, niece, nephew, brother-in-law, aunts, uncle and nan. Oh, nan.
Nan passed away in July and I can’t help but feel so thankful for the timing of our full-timing. With a goal to spend more time with family, how lucky was I to build such timely and lasting memories with nan on our first stop?
So yes, nan would be 90 today and I feel beyond appreciative for 33 years I was able to spend with her. I’ll miss her phone call next week (and forever). But I know she was pleased with this mobile life we’re living. I am too.
