The Architect of New Lives
We’ve been here in Indiana for a little over one year now. Andrea tells me we are not going to move again…
She says it in a way that sounds like I should believe her!
We’ve lived in several U.S. cities now. Our reason for coming to the U.S., and then deciding to stay, has been related to professional opportunities I’ve enjoyed – along with the adventure of seeing America, of course. When we arrive in a new place, my work immediately gives me a framework for what I’m supposed to be doing, a mental challenge to dig into, people to begin building relationships with, goals that a new board hopes I will achieve; friendships develop, too.
Andrea looks out into a new neighborhood with a blank sheet of paper...
Yet every time, Andrea is an incredible architect of our new lives. Her blank sheet of paper fills with notes on where all the best community opportunities are, social dates and sports clubs for the girls, the low-down on how the school really runs, community connections that are meaningful to get involved with herself, where to go out for dinner, how she wants to define her life in a new context, and so on. Masterfully, she brings life-giving shape out of the chaos that comes from four different individuals moving hundreds of miles to a new place.
Where does Andrea get this remarkable strength?
I only have to think of her lovely parents to know the answer to that question. In the 1950s, Edgar and Olivia were economic migrants who had to build a life in circumstances that were often challenging and sometimes antagonistic. But build they did. A family — four great daughters (Andrea’s only poor judgment was to marry me!). A home. Edgar worked for 40 years in a Land Rover factory and served for 25 years as a church warden. And Olivia would help anybody. She is kind and generous, reaching out to people making new lives themselves.
Every year they saved coins in a jar to give to the grandchildren. Everyone got their share.
Edgar and Olivia came to England from the Caribbean, and Andrea and I moved from the U.K. to the U.S. and have been bringing up a family here. There is a difference, though, and Andrea and I had it easy by comparison to Edgar and Olivia’s journey.
We lost Edgar a few years ago, but it was a real privilege to have both his and Olivia's perspectives in our lives and each year to understand more of their journeying to another country to work and build a life.
And now that we have moved again, for one last time — to a place with a history of car manufacturing that makes me think of Edgar fondly — I appreciate afresh the wisdom, determination and independence that Edgar and Olivia inculcated in their daughter and that she so generously shares with the girls and me and all the new people we meet in our new lives.
Thank you, Edgar and Olivia. And thank you, Andrea.
