It all started one winter...

Last December feels like yesterday. I was nervous, busy, stressed out of my mind, and more excited than I'd ever been. I was about to embark on my grand trip to England I had been planning for over a year and dreaming about for many more. I was at a weird place in my life. In some ways it felt like things were finally settling down and I had made a place for myself in my work and relationships. I had great friends and a set routine. I had been working for that all my life and when I finally got what I wanted....It was time to go to England on a trip I had planned when all my relationships were non existent and my work was less than ideal.

England had been my escape....and now that it was time to go...I had nothing I wanted to escape. None the less I was really excited because I have always had a passion for England since the first time I saw Princess Diana as a kid. I thought she was the most beautiful woman and I was captivated even as a kid. From there my love of England continued to grow until I had the opportunity at 14 to visit London with my family for a weekend. I had been travelling Europe with my family for a month straight and by the time or trip for London arrived I think everyone in my family was homesick for America, but as soon as we got to London...it's almost as if all that homesickness was forgotten. We all fell in love and it was the one trip we took the entire time that we weren't ready to let it end!

So it's really only because I truly did love England as much as I did that I was able to leave behind everything I had come to love so much. I looked at England as a new beginning. I had no idea what to expect from my time there. I didn't know if I would fall in love, meet my future best friends, or find my future career and that was kind of the excitement of it all...I didn't know what was going to happen.

I can picture the day I left just as clearly as this screen in front of me. It was January 6th....I was a few hours away from leaving, there was snow on the ground, I was worn out from all my preparations and general stress, I was nervous about the long trip ahead and I was already missing my family. I can picture the ride to the airport...me looking at everything trying to take it all in as I knew it would be the last time I saw any of these sites for 6 months. When we arrived at the airport my mom, sister, and I went inside and waited at a Tudor's Biscuit World before my flight. haha The humour of this is that I can't think of any place my family dislikes more...but....it was our only option at our small town airport. I remember tearing up at the thought of not seeing my cat, Pumpkin, for a very long time. Right before my flight my other sister showed up just in time for them to all wish me well and kiss me goodbye. I walked through security juggling all my carry ons and as I left to walk down to my gate I saw my family one last time through a glass window....they were waving and I then realized this was really it. This is really the last time I see them for six months. It's not as though I have never been separated from them before. I had gone away to college for my freshman year, but I saw them on breaks and sometimes in between. Never had I stayed away for six months. It was scary because this was my first true test of adulthood. I waved goodbye and next thing I knew I was on my flight to Detroit(my favourite airport in the world) and on my way to growing up.

Sincerely,

Annie