7 A final word

Our daughter Eliza and her family are putting their roots down in Atlanta. Next month Paul graduates from pharmacy school and has accepted a generous offer from the pharmacy he worked at part-time as he made his way through Mercer University.

Curiously, I ran across the following blog that Paul had posted exactly four years ago this month as he was preparing to move his little family clear across the country:

"With the winding down of this semester my attention is starting finally to turn to the sunset of our time in Utah. We will begin our move to Atlanta in 100 days as we plan on leaving town on July 25 to drive out there to find a place to live.

"I am a person of high anxiety, especially when I am traveling into unknown territory. . . . I worry about a lot of things that I probably shouldn't, thus I am really worried about finding a place to live and all the other stuff included in moving across the country. . . .

"I have always felt strangely attached to the city of Atlanta. I wondered why because a few years ago I would have told you that there are a dozen or so other places I would rather visit on vacation, and until recently I just always figured I would live in Utah the rest of my life.

"All growing up, I always had an interest in the city of Brussels, Belgium. Whenever we studied geography or history and talked about Brussels, I just felt strangely attached to that city. So, I guess it was no surprise when I received my mission call to the Belgium Brussels Mission when I turned 19.

"Likewise, I don't think it is just coincidence that we are going to Atlanta. There are adventures to have, friends to make, and a family to continue to build there. I can't even explain how excited I am to go to pharmacy school. I know it is going to be tough, but I eagerly await the challenge and await the good times of the future."

Interestingly, I had the same type of experience with my mission. As I was growing up, I had a fascination with the country of Brazil and the city of Rio de Janeiro particularly. During high school I even did a journalism paper about freedom of the press in Brazil. A few years later, when I turned 19, I was called to the Brazil North Mission, which was headquartered in Rio. Anyone who knows very much about me knows how profoundly those two years in Brazil influenced and shaped and blessed the rest of my life.

I don't know why Paul and Eliza are meant to be in Atlanta. They are, after all, holding three of our grandchildren hostage there. But I'm at peace with it all because I feel, as they do, that that is precisely where they are supposed to be.