The Big Changes

A friend of mine is about to go through a huge change as she moves back to the land of her birth. She's in the process of boxing up odds and ends, giving away those little pieces of her life here that won't fit in storage or a suitcase, and saying her goodbyes. It's the ending of one life, the last few moments before her new life begins.

I've been where she is. There are no moments as painful or hopeful as these moments before one of life's big changes. So much is wrapped up in them. We live like Janus for a time, one face looking forward and one face looking back.

These ending/beginnings come in all shapes, I suppose. My students from last year are going to orientation, planning out their dorm rooms, trying to find the buildings where they'll spend time in the semester to come. They are ending the last summer of high school and stepping into the new lives ahead of them on their college campuses.

I have friends who ended their child lives and stepped into the roles of parents with the past few years. That's an amazing transition to watch.

I have friends whose children have finally moved out and they're just now having time for themselves as a couple after many, many years of marriage. It's sort of the opposite transition the friends with the new babies are making. Still others I know are changing jobs or going back to work after retiring. Changes, endings, beginnings.

It seems we're always in the process of putting away one chapter of our lives and turning the page. It's a constant cycle of spinning a cocoon and emerging in a new form. Sometimes this unsettles me. Sometimes I crave stability and sameness. Mostly though, I salute life and enjoy the changes. Not that it's easy or comfortable, but thank God there can be change.

I hope my friend can end her time here beautifully and then move into her new life back home with enthusiasm and no regrets. I hope she will emerge from the cocoon with bright, strong wings and make her place there for as long as that chapter of her life is designed to last.