Hello, my name is Soraya and as of mid-April I have retired from work and stepped into the world of retirement. I am in the process of embarking on a brand new adventure moving to France in Mid October. I am ready to fully embrace this new chapter and wanted to share a little about me and how I got to this point in life.
You are probably wondering how I decided to try living abroad? I lived in the Netherlands until the age of 12 when my parents and four brothers moved to America. My mother was Dutch and my father was North African.
Learning English
Learning the language and acclimating to this new culture at that age from what I understand came rather quickly. As a young teen I wanted to be accepted and have friends. I loved socializing. Initially for the first three months I had a tutor in school. I could not wait to be able to sit alone at my desk without extra assistance.
At home my parents spoke Dutch and French trying to keep the languages alive. However, my brothers and I certainly had very different plans. We would only speak English and refused to speak anything else. I was the oldest and my four brothers were all about 2 years apart. We wanted not to be looked at as different. Subsequently, we quickly assimilated with our peers and surroundings.
A Little About Me – Adult Life
Eventually, I graduated as a School Psychologist. I worked and subsequently retired from a local school system. I have two grown children who are making their way into the world. Both are working in their desired careers, each on opposite sides of the United States. My son is in Portland, Oregon and my daughter is in New Orleans, Louisiana. Growing up our family returned twice to the Netherlands to visit family because traveling with five children was a prohibitive cost and was extremely special when we were able to go.
In 2019, my mother passed away after an 8 year courageous battle dealing with Alzheimer’s. It was a heartbreaking process to watch and a devastating loss for all of us. My mother parented with grace, kindness and ALWAYS with unwavering love and support, she became one of my best friends.
Rediscovering Travel
Unbeknownst to me, my mom’s passing became a significant milestone in my life. My daughter and I traveled to the Netherlands in honor of my mom and her grandmother, Oma. Being in Europe evoked in me such a deep sense of nostalgia. Personal memories of the culture, such as the charming landscape, seeing the windmills, the cobblestone streets, and smelling the fresh bread from the local bakeries tapped so many memories. In addition, it was wonderful to see my cousins whom I had not seen for 20 years.
It was at that very point that I decided that somehow, some way I would make it possible to be able to experience living in Europe for some time when I retire. I chose France as I was born there and it would be easier to stay there longer than 3 months. The Netherlands will still be a place I will be visiting frequently, as they are only a few hours apart.
As I have gotten older my view of life has progressively changed. Younger me had always needed to be on the treadmill of work to help provide for the family and I liked working (well, most of the time). Now I am ready to start savoring life using time to enjoy life.
“Enjoy the little things because one day you may look back and realize they were the big things” – Robert Brault
Thanks for being here,
-Soraya
Interested in reading about how my journey started? Check out my post, The Time Has Come To Move
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