One Year

On this day last year, Charlotte and I boarded an Aer Lingus flight with a one-way ticket from Seattle to Dublin. We’d flown over in late July to take care of immigration paperwork and settle into our apartment. This second flight, though, was the big one. Movers had packed our life into crates a few days before and Mushu and Fauna were in the cargo hold below us. We’d spent the morning distracting ourselves at the lovely Woodland Park Zoo, where a coastal brown bear named Juniper decided it was a lovely day to toss a log around in the water by the glass. She just wanted to play and was, perhaps, confused as to why we weren’t joining in. Safety, Juniper, safety. It’s wild how time embodies a dual pace when you fill it with a good life. Last year feels like yesterday. Last year feels like ancient history. Throughout, everything seemed to just click into place. We lucked out with a stunning apartment in Dublin that made city living tolerable. We happened to put an offer on our dream…