Day 0

This story actually starts much earlier, but for the purposes of where I’m at today, we’ll start with Day 0 or Day 1 in Denmark. I might get around to telling you the full story at another point in time. Let’s see where this takes us.

I wasn’t supposed to be on the plane August 7. Well, I was. But I wasn’t.

It was a wild guess. An estimation of when I thought it might happen. I needed to buy a roundtrip ticket instead of one way after my last visit, and I projected out and decided August 7 would be a good day to fly back to Denmark, for good. For home.

The paperwork was being completed on the US side, albeit very slowly, and I felt hopeful August 7 would still be in play. Then I visited the VFS office in Washington DC for my biometrics appointment on July 31. They took my passport. That wasn’t in the plans. I’d been told I didn’t have to give it to them. But they insisted. I told them I needed it for a flight on the 7th and they said “10–17 days is when you should expect it back.” Woof.

I flew back to the Carolinas knowing my August 7 date would most likely not happen at this point. I made tentative farewell party plans. I slowed down on the packing. And I turned my car over. (I’d sold it a few weeks prior and the new owners said I could drive it until the 5th.) Then Tuesday night, August 5 at 6pm, the passport was delivered to my doorstep. OMG.

The moving company arrived the next morning to pick up all my belongings that had been in storage since November 2024. I checked in for my flight which would be leaving around 11:30am on the 7th. I raced back to Spartanburg to finalize the packing of my 4 suitcases that would be making the flight with me.

I woke up teary eyed and hopefuly the morning of August 7. The day had arrived. I’d be leaving the US of A for a new country — a new life. A new home. I was feeling all the emotions. The excitement and hope. The grief and loss. The readiness and resolve.

My flights were on time. The long haul flight over the Atlantic brought no sleep and I arrived in Amsterdam fully awake and ready to face a new day. I was about to see my husband.

The short flight from Amsterdam to Billund was seamless. It was made even better by watching all four suitcases get loaded on the plane.

I walked off the plane, gathered my luggage and stepped out into the meeting place to find my husband waiting. A Danish flag and a LEGO welcome sign in hand.

We got back to our home and I was stunned. David had done some MAJOR work in the leadup to my arrival making space for me. He’s been in a one bedroom apartment since he arrived in 2022 and we’ve decided to stay here for the time being while we look for our next home. However, we needed space for me to settle in. And David did just that. He cleared out closets, shelves, drawers. He had photos of us printed and framed, he had pictures of my nephews on the walls, and even a gorgeous print of my favorite place (Lake Lure) hanging on our bedroom wall.

It’s our space. A shared space for a new shared life together.

Our neighbor kids made a Welcome Home sign for me, a bottle of champagne was waiting and we did a quick bike ride to our neighborhood bakery to pick up a few things.

The goal for the rest of the day was to unpack suitcases and stay awake until 8pm.

I did both things. 3 of the 4 suitcases unpacked and I slept 12 hours.

It was a good first day in Denmark.