Tomorrow is the big day!

It's Tuesday and I'm so excited and scared at the same time, I can't separate the feelings. I am staying with friends who live downstairs from my condo because mine is all closed up, water shut off and hurricane shutters lowered. My dearest friend, Kadi, is spending the night so she can take me to the airport at 3 am, a totally uncivilized hour, but then I'm going to a pretty uncivilized place, so I guess it's an appropriate way to start out.
These last few weeks have been absolutely perfect! My PEO sisters offered love and good wishes at my last meeting with them, and my Investment Club had an All-American red, white and blue themed party. Our President, Dorothy Schrage, gave a beautiful opening quote from Kahlil Gibran, "Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." And my Book Club members, who after hearing the story that I told them about Tracy's seeds, sends me off with a bucket full of vegetable seeds to plant hope with the people of Belize.

My going away party at the Palm Pavilion was wonderful. Not only was it one of the first beautiful days we've had so far this year, but the number of friends who came and well wishes I received was incredible! My dear friend Jill had everyone make a page which she compiled into a beautiful book that I will look at with fond memories many times throughout the next two years.
I have visited with friends who I hadn't seen in years, yet we picked up as though we had just seen each other last week. It gives me a renewed sense of how incredibly blessed I am to have so many wonderful and caring friends. Though I'll be in a very different world, please keep me in your thoughts as you remember another quote from Kahlil Gibran, "A friend who is far away is sometimes much nearer than one who is at hand. Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?" I will miss all of you very much, but will feel your love and support with me, as I will be with you as you read of my adventures.
I wish I could say somthing profound as I embark on my journey. But in fact, it's Elle Woods in Legally Blonde that I recall as she is presenting the commencement address to her graduating class from Harvard Law School, "It is with passion, courage of conviction and strength of self that we take this next step." So, here we go!