Nashville, TN., Oct. 8, 2013, 6:03 p.m., C.D.T.~

Dear Journal~

Sopai!  

This is your friend, M'Buti Ayala Moore-Sormiento, writing.  I have been incredibly busy: raising ten active children (and one overgrown child, aka my husband, Roberto) will do that.  LOL  I hope you don't mind.  Please forgive me.

Roberto and I are getting ready to move to Alaska.  Yes, you read right.  We are moving to Alaska.  Roberto got a job offer from a hospital in Fairbanks, and it was an offer he couldn't refuse, so he is getting ready to pack all of us up and move us up there. 

I just wish he could have waited until the children were finished with their schooling, but he wants to get up there and settle in right away.  As for me, I'm not so sure.  For one thing, it's a lot colder up there in Alaska.  And there are dangerous animals about, like bears and moose and wolves!  How will I manage to keep us safe if there are wild animals running about??

The children are as excited about our impending move as is Roberto.  Our oldest child, Jubaki, 14, is as thrilled about our upcoming move as is his father.  The twins (Eshe' and Kibarake, who are 12) are looking forward to seeing a different part of the country that few people actually get to see.  The triplets (Kenji, Keloki, and Koji, who are all ten) want to go bear or moose hunting.  The quadruplets (Manani, M'Baki, Maliki, and Muhisani, aged 8) want to see the mountains, northern lights, and the trees.

As for me, I'm not so sure, as I alluded to above.  I mean, Alaska is so much bigger than Tennessee, and I have called Tennessee home for over 11 years now.  It's about the only place I have ever known, and I have made so many wonderful friends here.  I also had a good job at the Nashville Banner; in addition, I had a wonderful church family that I could always confide in whenever things got hard.  It is goign to be hard to leave all of that behind; I have done a lot of praying and crying and questioning God, to see if this is really right for us.

To tell you the honest to God truth, I'm scared.  I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to me up there and nobody was around!  I'd probably end up being food for all the wild critters!  And they wouldn't really get much; I'm still as skinny as a rail! LOL

We are waiting for the final bid on the house and to close the sale; as soon as that happens, we will start packing and head north to Alaska, where we will start our new lives.  I don't know when I will write again; but if you don't hear from me, you'll know something happened.  Pray that it DOESN'T; I'm not ready to go just yet!  But I sure hate to leave Tennessee (and my life) behind!  This is going to be a totally new experience for me and my family!

~Love, your (terrified) friend in Tennessee, M'Buti Ayala.  :(