After months of sleepless nights, soul searching and emails back and forth to my daughter, I had finally decided to move back to my original home. Having moved overseas twenty years ago you would think Id have found it an easy task. But you would be wrong. My wife had organized the whole move back then. She was no longer with me. And so much had changed in the last twenty years; I didnt know where to start. The task seemed monumental.

Until a close friend said to me, Get with the program Ed use the Internet.

Okay, I said. But I was skeptical. The same friend said to Google international moving company. What I found totally took me by surprise - you could have knocked me over with a feather! All I had to do was put my country of residence, China, and my destination, USA, into a form and a bunch of international moving companies came up on the screen. They all offered free quotes so I got one from every one on that list.

Now, I believe in being frugal, but to me it was more important to make sure my precious possessions, most of which were bought with my wife when she was alive, got to the USA in one piece and not go missing somewhere along the way. So I researched every one of the international moving companies in the Better Business Bureau and epinions, again on the advice of my friend. The international moving company I chose was priced in the middle, but its license was in order and it had a good reputation.

So a date was set for the international moving company of my choice to show up and pack up my house. Once the details were all set, my feelings were bitter-sweet. I wanted to stay, yet I wanted to go. China, land of ancient wisdom, timeless culture and polite society had been the only home for me these past twenty years and the place where I had scattered the ashes of my beloved wife. How could I leave?

I took my wallet from my back pocket and dug out some pictures. Looking up at me were the smiling faces of my daughter, and my precious grandchildren. There was my reason for leaving.

China would always live in my heart and a chunk of my heart would always live in China. But the USA was where my future lay in the eyes of my grandchildren.