This blog is about getting ready for my trip and then the actual trip itself.  There are several questions that keep coming up time after time.  One of them is…what is Mike going to do without me while I am gone?  I figure he will finally get some decent sleep, after 25 years of my restless sleeping he deserves some well-earned peace and quiet.

Seriously, I have asked him if he wants to accompany me on this trip.  But this is not his dream and he wants me to experience this, my dream, to the fullest while he keeps the home fires burning.  It is not like he will lack for things to do while I am gone, he has varied interests and a very long to-do list.

When we first got married, his job had him traveling up to 75% of the time.  He had long periods away from home and sometimes he was only home long enough to have his laundry done and he was off to another job.  I was lucky to have my parents around then.  They not only kept me company but helped when things broke, which always seemed to happen as soon as he left the driveway.  But I was home alone a lot of the time and I kept the home fires burning.  Now it is his turn and he seems very willing to do so.

It is going to be harder on me to be away from him, I think.  I have always been the one who stayed home.  It feels more than a little selfish being the one going now, but this is what we have decided to do.  We will be on constant communication and he is never far from my heart anyway.  I am hoping that this time will have a profound effect on him also.  I want him to have some time to think about what he wants in this stage of his life.  I want him to explore his options and come away positive about the future (which he normally is anyway).  Learning from this experience is the reason for the trip.

Yes, I am going to miss him and worry about him but I would be foolish to think that he will just fall apart as I drive away.  I will be praying for him as are many other people.  He should be just fine stoking those home fires until I return home.

Sun Through the Trees at Home