Celebrating Holland

[Guest guest]

I saw this on a board a while back and needed to share. I still haven't

found Italy yet, we have our last hope on the way. I just thought I'd

share this with you guys. It mad me feel warm inside that finally someone

else knew exactly what my heart was trying to say.

Jen A. mom to 4, Yolo 2 1/2, and Phynix 6months all w/cf.

Celebrating Holland - I'm Home

By Cathy

(follow-up to the original " Welcome to Holland " by Perl Kingsley)

I have been in Holland for over a decade now. It has become home. I have had

time to catch my breath, to settle and adjust, to accept something different

than I'd planned. I reflect back on those years of past when I had first

landed in Holland. I remember clearly my shock, my fear, my anger - the pain

and uncertainty. In those first few years, I tried to get back to Italy as

planned, but Holland was where I was to stay. Today, I can say how far I

have come on this unexpected journey. I have learned so much more. But, this

too has been a journey of time.

I worked hard. I bought new guidebooks. I learned a new language and I

slowly found my way around this new land. I have met others whose plans had

changed like mine, and who could share my experience. We supported one

another and some have become very special friends. Some of these fellow

travellers had been in Holland longer than I and were seasoned guides,

assisting me along the way. Many have encouraged me. Many have taught me to

open my eyes to the wonder and gifts to behold in this new land. I have

discovered a community of caring. Holland wasn't so bad.

I think that Holland is used to wayward travellers like me and grew to

become a land of hospitality, reaching out to welcome, to assist and to

support newcomers like me in this new land. Over the years, I've wondered

what life would have been like if I'd landed in Italy as planned. Would life

have been easier? Would it have been as rewarding? Would I have learned some

of the important lessons I hold today?

Sure, this journey has been more challenging and at times I would (and still

do) stomp my feet and cry out in frustration and protest. And, yes, Holland

is slower paced than Italy and less flashy than Italy, but

this too has been an unexpected gift. I have learned to slow down in ways

too and look closer at things, with a new appreciation for the remarkable

beauty of Holland with its' tulips, windmills and Rembrandts.

I have come to love Holland and call it Home.

I have become a world traveller and discovered that it doesn't matter where

you land. What's more important is what you make of your journey and how you

see and enjoy the very special, the very lovely, things that Holland, or any

land, has to offer.

Yes, over a decade ago I landed in a place I hadn't planned. Yet I am

thankful, for this destination has been richer than I could have imagined!

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