Thursday, June 13, 2019

Epilogue: Northwest

After alluding to things through Facebook posts, blogs and personal conversations, here’s the scoop. Most of you closest to me already know, but I’m packing my life and heading to Oregon.

Below I’ll go into some of the specifics that have shaped this, but the short is this. Late July I’m going to pack and head cross country to be closer to Little Man. His mom has taken a position at a small school outside Portland and I just can’t keep missing the important things in his life.

He needs a dad that’s there, and at least one parent who gets the impact that having two involved parents can have positively on his life. I’ve fought “the ice queen” in so many ways. And the fact is, I would never have been able to find a life of my own in Central Pennsylvania. But the Pacific Northwest?!?!? Different story altogether.



There are a thousand reasons to stay. But it only takes one reason to leave. And he’s worth it.

I sat yesterday at an outside restaurant along the banks of the Willamette river. Trying to scout out a major city in three days is impossible. How can you find a place to call home amongst all the many small hamlets and burbs? Taking a pause to meet with someone who knew the area, I looked up and saw a beautiful bald eagle soar majestically overhead. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.

‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.’
~ Exodus 19:4

Oregon City. The historic end point of the fabled Oregon Trail. The end of a journey that literally marked uncharted landscapes of this country. It’s the first place that I’ve been out here that I could really sense the ability to breathe deep, to suck in oxygen and all the natural wonders around. I don’t have a resting place just yet, but I feel this will be home. At the end of one journey, a new one is about to begin.

Atlanta has been home my entire life. And those of you who live here are part of my life, just as much as all the streets named Peachtree, My Mountain (Stone Mountain), the wooded mountains of North Georgia, Decatur, the ‘Cobb County’ Braves, live music at Eddie’s and so much more. Nate, Adam. All the other a**holes that I’ll miss. Anyone who has touched a small part of my world. You are all so incredibly special. Friends (yes, you Facebook friends too), I want to soak in as many of you as I can before I leave.

Instead of bashing the abrupt decision made by a callous individual (my original title to this blog was ‘So this is how f*cked up it gets’), I’m choosing to embrace the fact that I’m finally getting the opportunity to be close to one of the most important people in my life at an incredibly impressionable age.

Goodbye Atlanta. It’s somewhat now ‘easier to leave’.

click below to listen to the original song by Thom Lyons
Easier to Leave




1 comment:

  1. My dear friend, you will be missed here but this is such a great decision to make. Wonderful travels Chad!

    ReplyDelete