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A crazy, wonderful, life-changing year
If you read my last blog post you know that there've been a whole lot of changes and things happening in my life during the last year.
I started to list the most significant happenings in 'Our Love Story - Part 1' and will continue here in Part 2:
6. LOCKDOWN & HOMESCHOOLING (in Brazil)
The second time I went to Brazil, I didn't go alone.
We (my mum, my kids, and I) left Germany in mid-March to go to Brazil for one month. I don't know if you can imagine how happy I was!? After two months of a distance relationship, both Fabio and I were so much looking forward to finally being able to see each other again in real.
Another thing I was glad about was skipping one month of rainy, grey weather in Germany and therefore getting an overdose of summer, sun, and lightness in Brazil! It was just what I needed, especially in those crazy 'corona-times', which brought all kinds of changes and challenges to all of us somehow.
One of those challenges was the lockdown in Germany that included the closing of all schools and most of the stores and businesses.
So, when we went to Brazil we took the school supplies of the children with us and they had to do homeschooling there almost every day. And since Brazil also started to go into a lockdown, we weren't able to travel a lot or to do free time activities because most of the places were closed.
So, there wasn't a lot of distraction and we actually stayed most of the time on the property of the Fabio family's holiday home in Roseira, a little town in the state of Sao Paulo.
The house had a garden with beautiful palm and fruit trees and a little soccer field and... a POOL which the children enjoyed so much every day!!!
All in all, it was a very peaceful and quiet time, perfect for homeschooling and for the children to get to know Fabio better and spend some time together.
7. TRUST
Some people have asked me if I wasn't afraid of traveling to a faraway country with a lower hygienic standard and medical system during an epidemic.
Well, to those who are asking themselves the same question, let me tell you this: ANYTHING could happen ANYWHERE.
Maybe you think this was a reckless decision. But I have to admit that I am not afraid of this virus. I was never a person with many fears. I rather choose to trust in life and trust in God. I believe nothing in life happens without a reason. Sometimes we might think 'bad' things are happening to us. But every time I had a 'bad' experience in my life, these were the lessons I learned the most out of it.
So... I have a strong basic trust that only things will happen to us which are good for our inner growth.
Another thing I believe is that a strong and healthy immune system is much better protection against any kind of diseases and viruses than anything else.
To keep the immune system balanced it is important to go outside, to have sunlight, to be happy, to have good nutrition, to move the body, and to think positively.
I believe paying attention to these things is better than staying in the house, barely moving, having worries, and watching all these panic mongering news which just make us scared and increase negative thinking.
I don't deny that there are all kinds of viruses, diseases, and illnesses in this world (there always have been and probably always will be) and yes, it can be terrible, draining, and sad when someone gets a serious disease. But I don't believe that being afraid of diseases will help in any way, but rather to trust.
8. ENGAGEMENT
It wasn't the classic 'Hollywood-kind-of' engagement that you might first think of when you hear the word engagement.
Fabio had actually told me he wanted to marry me quite from the beginning after we got to know each other and of course I thought it was cute, but didn't take it that seriously. But we did talk about this topic sometimes and sure if everything would work out with us, why not?
I was always a romantic person and the family stands in the first place for me.
Before I went to Brazil the second time I was writing a love song for Fabio. It's called 'Trust in Love' and so far I've just published an audio version of it for my Patrons on my Patreon page.
The funny thing is that Fabio also wrote a love song for me quite at the same time and when we met again in Brazil he played and sang it to me. And in that song, he was proposing to me.
And in the song that I had written for him, I was kind of proposing to him, too, haha - sure, I'm an emancipated woman, I can propose to a man, what do you think!? ;)
Anyway, we said yes.
9. A NEW FAMILY MEMBER
I'm so happy and grateful that my children had the chance to come to Brazil with me and get to know Fabio. Noah had been a bit skeptical at the beginning, but he quickly gained confidence and became friends with him.
I am aware of the fact that this can be a challenging situation for children: the parents not getting along with each other, then separating and they just living with their mum for years... and then one day... suddenly there is this new man in mommy's life. And then in their lives, too.
So that’s probably one of the reasons why it took me so long to find a new partner in life. Because it’s a serious matter. It’s not something to play around with. And I’m glad I waited until I felt ready to opening up myself, to trust in love (partnership) again, and secondly until I felt that 'our life' (mine and my kids') was ready for a new chapter in life. A wonderful chapter that should never end.
When the children and I went to Brazil it was so naturally beautiful and familiar as if we've been a 'team' for years.
I think children are amazing when it comes to getting to know new people and making new friends. They are open and don't have prejudices.
I always taught my kids to be open and friendly to everyone and they really are.
So we were having a good time together and it wasn’t easy for anyone of us to say goodbye at the end of our stay.
10. GOODBYE & WAITING ...
After coming back to Germany, all we had again was communication via the Internet. And this time we didn't know how much time it would take for us to be even able to see each other again.
Because of Covid-19, the borders of Brazil were closed now, too, just like in all Europe. The European Union put up a travel ban which made it impossible for people outside of Europe to travel to a European country. And the infections in Brazil were rising up quickly which made it even more hopeless to see each other again in a foreseeable period of time.
So we were back to the far-distance-relationship and this time all we had was to wait. To wait until the situation would change and the travel ban would be lifted.
At first, we both were confident that it would get better soon. But it didn't seem like anything would change so quickly. And as the weeks passed by and then months, we realized that it could take many months more before it would be possible for us to see each other again.
The only comfort we had in this time was to know that we were not alone in this situation. There were (and unfortunately still are) thousands of binational couples who were not able to see each other due to the travel ban.
We found out that many of these people connected with each other and started the campaign #loveisnottourism for lifting the travel ban for binational couples so that they would finally be able to meet each other again and take their loved ones in their arms.
We joined the 'movement' and got some useful tips and advice from this group.
The success stories of couples who made it to see each other again inspired and motivated us to stay strong and persistent, even when it was hard sometimes to not know what was coming. This feeling of uncertainty was dragging us down sometimes. But love and hope were always stronger.
Whoa, this blog post has already gotten long, again.
I guess there must be a third part coming soon!
For now, I thank you so much for reading our story and I really hope you've enjoyed it!
I would be very happy if you could leave a little comment and/or like (by clicking the heart button at the end of the blog) for me to know whether you like this story or not.
Thank you so much for your love and support!
Yours, Sarah