A Letter To Axel: Why We're Here
by dana dyksterhuis
I wrote this letter to my son on 8 February, 2017, before our journey from Seattle to London. I wanted to write down how I was feeling, as well as have something to look back on and remember. Our time here has been and is absolutely amazing and I'm so happy we did it! Who knows what the future holds, but in the meantime, I thought this would be a good time to post this.
Throwing rocks in the Puget Sound, Seattle.
Dear Axel,
We’re about to go on a great adventure and I am just so very excited… And very scared too. I don’t want to fail you. I’m about to take you and Gator overseas to England. Before you were born I felt within me that I wanted to raise a “global baby” and by that, I mean raise a baby to experience the abundance of this beautiful world. I want to show you all of this world’s beauty… I want to show you different cultures, different cities, expose you to many languages, teach tolerance and acceptance, and show your beautiful, curious, little eyes the abundance of life around us. I think you’ll love the high-speed train that we can take to Paris and Amsterdam…
I think you might have a lot of fun on the Tube… You loved soccer here for the short time we did it and I can’t wait to get you back into it in England once we’re settled (although they call it “football” over there). I’ve been researching festivals and see so many in the city as well as in Bath and Surrey, Brighton and Edinburgh… We can even go check out Dublin as it’s just a little over an hour away, or we could head in the other direction to check out Copenhagen.
Gator will be with us too! It broke my heart to see how sad you were when we dropped him off at doggie daycare before heading to Memphis and Omaha for the holidays… And it broke my heart to see you so sad when we took him to the Vet for his appointments and they took him to the back room for his shots…. But he is okay! Those shots were so he can be with us as soon as we land at Heathrow! When we get to our place in London, you can play with him on the back patio that we’ll have which is something new!
I wanted to write this because while this is a big move with different scenery that will open our worlds so much, there is so much that is still the same….
I still and always will love you so much… You are still and always will be my everything… I will still work everyday to keep a routine for us that is consistent and comforting…. I will still be a little overly freaky about protecting you… I will still sing “Wheels on the bus” and “Wind the Bobbin Up” for you… We will still watch Masha and the Bear and read about shapes, trucks and "Wossets in the Closets." Everyone who loves us here in Seattle, Omaha, Memphis and the US will still love us there in London and we will still love them very much too…. And we will all continue to experience life together.
Love, "Mummy"
London Update
(Axel was not into playing football when we first arrived (although that is changing now), and we tried rugby for a minute which didn't work either... But tennis is a hit and seems to be his thing so far).... :-)
