2018

To say that 2018 was a year of change and challenges is something of an understatement. The more people I ask, the more confirmation I get that it was rough for many of us so I console myself with the fact that at least I'm in good company on this one.
It has been a year of loss and adventure, all mixed in a broth of contrasts. Among the losses that have hit me hardest has been the death of my dear friend Sharon whose absence only now seems to be settling in as something permanent and real. Particularly on these dark winter mornings when I wake, after having spent a night dreaming of a shared conversation does the pain of it feel especially keen.

We also got a darling little kitten, Lucian's furry baby who was the light of his life. But then we lost her after about 7 months to a parasite or something, we're not sure what happened, but it broke our hearts to have her go.

Fortunately not all of the changes have been as heartbreaking.
Some of them have been positive, including Luci's and my move to Westcliff. It feels like we've gone home, stepping into the embrace of a family we'd almost, but not quite, lost touch with. Like the best sort of family reunions.

Foremost among the adventures of the year is the building project we've undertaken. Let me be clear that building a house was not on my bucket list but it appears it will be numbered among the things that I am going to do with this life. Who would have expected that development? Not me, that's for sure. But there you have it, 2018 has been an odd one.

In some ways, building this ADU has been not unlike our year-plus travel adventure. Mihai wanted me write a blog devoted to the build and I might have had the fortitude to do it had the events of this year not taken some of the shine out of my desire to write. Also, there's the fact that people might be eager to browse through photos of Budapest and Athens but probably don't have much interest in photos of sweaty people digging a big hole in their back garden.

That being said, I will still include some photos just for grins and giggles and who knows, maybe there is someone out there who likes photos of sweaty people digging holes? If there are, I worry about them..

These two are the bedrock of the project. You can tell they're important by the matching outfits.

This is the core crew. Notice how the unskilled labor force has been segregated to the left

On occasion we get additional helpers which might not always move the project along in a forward trajectory but certainly makes for fun days

There were other deaths and there were losses of limbs (in some cases literal, in others, functional) but then those moments of pain were assuaged by the joys of new pets and Romanian friends and family coming to visit the States for the first time ever and Abbott Square theme nights and vacations and other bits and pieces of joy that make this life the messy ball of wonder that it is.

So we look ahead to what 2019 has in store, hoping for more adventures and less of the other bits.
It will be a big year for Lucian as he will graduate and then (if the house is finished) begin his life adventure living on his own (with a house full of vrothers, that is).
As for Mihai and I, we are beginning the process of moving back to Romania. This time there will be no shipping containers or mislabeled boxes, no vans stored in my sister's yard in Florida. If we haven't gone full Marie Kondo, we've at least learned to have confidence that we can find whatever we need in Europe.
What we won't find is a house full of people and it's strange to contemplate the image of the three of us (Mihai, Silviu and me) drifting about in Villa Ionescu without throngs of children and guests. Which means I might just be able to keep up on the housekeeping without hiring help. That will be a first.
Also missing will be Sharon. While I never expected her to visit Romania a second time, I had entertained ideas of bi-monthly marathon telephone calls during which she could fill me in on the details of how much she was enjoying retirement.
Alas.

Sharon Pritchard Jan 20,1950-August 19, 2018

Until we meet again, my friend.