We frikkin did it.

I visited the US Embassy in Stockholm today.



I was afraid.



I had put everything on one card.



I had spent my remaining funds on getting ready for a job that I wasn´t sure if I was gonna be able to show up for. Because I hadn´t gotten the OK for my visa yet.



A "no" would have meant that I would have had to start over. Try and find a job in Sweden for a couple of months without the necessary language skills, living with my future boss and his wife and kids, maybe not being able to afford getting Bufi here, waiting for our company to evolve and eventually offering me employment. Without employment, no right to reside. Chicken or egg? I don´t know but it was messy. Somehow I trusted that it was going to happen. Despite lacking paperwork. Despite being too late to get an appointment. Despite all the smaller "no´s" I got along the way. Pushing button after button until some provided answers and allowed me to step closer to my goal.



I got a "yes". No, I wasn´t able to bring a Personbevis... instead I killed them with letters from me, stating my intent to come back and support families in Sweden in their healing, my future bosses here and in Colorado, even the immigration officers wrote a letter for me. My parents sent paperwork and stuff in the mail. It all arrived on time. And told me that everything was going to be fine. Patrick, my "adoptive big brother" in Sweden and boss encouraged me and trusted it was going to happen. We all did it. I feel so grateful for community.



I don´t know what I would have done if it hadn´t worked out. Maybe I would have gone swimming. Tried to let go. Now that it worked out I will likely... go swimming. Let go of the clenched fists and the tense jaw. Find balance... and maybe keep it for a while.



I cannot express how thankful I am for friends, family, and nature.



Life is beautiful.