Dreams

As many of you know, Matt is a foreign service officer with State.  It was just about 5 years ago that he began his career as a diplomat.  We sold our home in Ohio and moved to DC.  What started out as his dream quickly became our dream.  We were going to have an incredible life, living overseas and raising our children all over the world.  What an experience for the entire family!!  Our love of travel, language and culture all came together into the perfect career.  It was a dream come true.  We lived in DC for a year, before jetting off to London to begin our first assignment.  Everything was perfect.

And then the diagnosis of Sanfilippo happened.  It has impacted our lives in so many ways, including Matt's career.  We curtailed from our assignment in the UK and settled back into DC.  We thought about leaving State all together or moving to another department office in another area of the country.  After much soul searching and research, we have decided to stay in DC.  Matt started the process of resigning from the foreign service last week.  He will continue working for State in a civil service capacity. His new job is a perfect fit, both for him and for our family.

It is bittersweet.  We are so thankful that everything has worked out for us in terms of his new assignment.  However, it is difficult to say goodbye to the dream we once had.  We wanted to expose Waverly & Oliver to other cultures.  To actually live in another country.  Learn foreign languages.  Attend school.  Make friends.

This isn't the way it is supposed to be.

I am sad that our dream has gone.  I am jealous of friends living in Portugal, Malawi, Jordan and Nepal.  I wish life could be different.

Yet we have so much.  Matt has a job that he truly enjoys.  We live in an area with a superb special education program.  Our therapists and doctors have been wonderful.  We have places like Jill's House and Access Ministry for Waverly & Oliver.

DC isn't so bad.