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'What? You're buying it without seeing it?' asked Aideen as she served up a portion of
roast chicken, our regular Sunday treat and Sophia's favourite. Aideen was my best friend
and had been a rock for me through Sophia's first year. A professional coach in a techno-
logy company by day and a breastfeeding consultant by night, Aideen had supported me
with the difficult circumstances of breastfeeding a newborn recovering from life-critical
surgery, which in itself helped me cope emotionally, offering me a concrete way to contrib-
ute to Sophia's recovery.
'We had to make the decision. I couldn't go without Ellie and she didn't have a passport.
It all happened so quickly. We still don't have a firm answer on the property but we've de-
cided to sell the house anyway. If it doesn't come through we'll find another one. We've
decided this is the right thing for us.'
'I'm gobsmacked.'
We hadn't told anyone about our plans. We worked in a tight-knit technology and finance
community and had decided that our careers would be seriously impaired if there was any
inkling of our move. Until we were sure that it was going ahead we wouldn't say a word to
anyone, not even our closest friends and family.
'The "for sale" sign goes up tomorrow so I have to talk to all our neighbours this after-
noon.'
The finality of what we were doing hit me.
'It's so sudden,' she said.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Though we had been thinking about this dream for
more than a decade, now it was happening too fast. Tears welled up. I would miss Aideen.
We spent hours talking over lunch then over a long walk through the park. By the time
Aideen and Barry invited us to stay on for a light supper they were as excited about our
move as I was. They had had an inkling of our 'back to the land' dream but just like
ourselves had no idea how far we were willing to take it. Two weeks before if someone had
asked me if we were really going to pursue this crazy dream I would have said 'unlikely'.
Something had clicked.
I felt torn; part of me was thrilled and wanted to go, the other part was terrified, and
wanted to stay. We would be leaving our friends. We would be leaving successful careers
and their associated income. I would be changing from a responsible job that had me net-
workingwith famous entrepreneurs andanalysing leading-edge technology tolooking after
kids full-time in rural France.
When I got home there was a message on the answering machine.
'Hi Caro and Sean, it's Patrick. The sellers have decided to take your offer but they want
to know how quickly you can proceed.'
I felt elated, then went into a state of panic. My mind flooded with what we would have to
do in the coming weeks and my adrenaline sky-rocketed. It was too late to call him back.
Sean rang from Paris in time to stop me spinning completely out of control.
