3,000 Miles with a Deaf Cat

One of the challenges is changing coasts at this point in my life is what to do with an 8-lb wonder named Chester. He has been my buddy since I adopted him from a shelter over 9 years ago. He's been with me in two different apartments and has spent countless nights sleeping next to me. Or being banished to the bathroom.

Let me explain. Chester is very likely completely deaf. Of course, I didn't realize this until recently. But this diagnosis would explain why he sounds like a dying pterodactyl when he "meows." It can be disconcerting for someone who isn't used to it, and it also serves as a very annoying wake up call if he decides he needs to express himself in the middle of the night. Hence, the banishment to the bathroom when he just won't stop.

With this background in place, let's return to the problem at hand: how to get him across the country. Driving with him in the car for several days clearly was not an option. There were thoughts of him staying here with my parents, but the decision has been made for him to fly. With me. In the cabin.

So let me take this opportunity to apologize to all of the Alaska Airlines passengers on tomorrow's flight in advance. The vet says he can't take drugs because they could either a) kill him, or b) make him psychotic. If I had the drugs, I would freely distribute them to you, my fellow passengers, in addition to myself. At this point, I can only hope for a very engaging in-flight movie and no extra delays.

The Ups and Downs of Change

Change is inevitable. Buddha or Oprah or my yoga teacher or someone equally important said this. I think it’s true. And I also think that all change has good and bad in it. For example, this move of mine has so much good in it for me. Maybe using the word “bad” is the wrong term, but there is also a cost.

There are elements to this change that make me sad and will be difficult. First and foremost, it will be very hard for me not to have access to my family and friends and friends who are family that live in Boston. I know we will visit and cell phones and the Internet make great distances much smaller, but it won’t be the same.

I think it’s human nature – or at least my nature – to want to avoid negative feelings. I don’t want to be sad or miss people, but the reality is that I will. It would be a waste of years of very good therapy if I just ignored this fact. I will do my best to sit with these feelings and not run away from them, but it’s not the most comfortable or natural process for me.

In the realm of ridiculous analogies that float through my head, I feel like my life is kind of like a Boggle game. At the moment, I’ve done all of the combinations I can with this particular set of letters. It’s time to shake the game up and find new words. I still want to keep the letters I like, but I really need new letters to play with. And Seattle has all of the new letters I want. Somewhere Buddha and Oprah are cringing at this last paragraph.

Titles Are Always the Hardest For Me

I am starting this blog upon the suggestion of my girlfriend, my partner, the person I am moving 3,000 miles to spend my life with. In less than a week, I will board a plane from my home in Boston to a brand new life in the Pacific Northwest.

I've chosen this name for my blog not based on extensive research, but rather from a snippet of an NPR story. Being aware of the term "future shock" for the grand total of 55 minutes, I have decided that it very well could apply to my life right now.

A quick check on the venerable and though-not-completely-trustworthy Wikipedia for a confirmation of what it supposedly means, and the name of this blog was born. For those who were not listening to 'Morning Edition' this morning, the concept of "future shock" is "too much change in too short a period of time."

That could certainly describe what the next phase of my life contain, but I don't see that as being something to be scared of or try to avoid. Rather, I am so very much looking forward to what lies ahead. Granted, I've never gone from living as a single woman in Boston to being in a relationship in the Pacific Northwest and becoming a nearly instantaneous step-parent to 3-year-old twins, but, hey I'm game. More than that, I can't wait.

I'm starting this blog to chronicle just how this journey unfolds. I was about to write how I am just doing this for myself, but that would not be entirely true. If I just wanted these thoughts and experiences for myself, I would just write in a journal. Putting out a blog is inherently the act of at least a loosely committed extrovert.

We all have stories, but I think mine is a bit unusual. I don't know if there are others out there who will be interested in hearing about mine, but we'll see.