how's your week going, Beehaw

Received amazing news the other day. However, I need to back up a little bit in order to explain. My wife and I decided to move to Maine 13 years ago after learning it was our best option for raising children. The cold of winters did not, initially, bother me. Over the past 5 winters it has become increasingly difficult dealing with the cold. Physically I can no longer tolerate January/February as I once did. The cold causes me pain in my joints. I have very little body fat so that doesn't help. Also, I love to be outdoors and the cold prevents me from it.

My children are no longer in need of me being around all the time (they can take care of themselves now). So, for the past couple of years I took a week in the middle of January and flew around the USA to visit with family/friends. This did provide me with a significant mental/emotional break in order to get through the winter. Unfortunately, travel is incredibly expensive so that had to be shelved. This has caused me to become depressed this winter...feeling trapped (cabin fever) and no solution in sight.

And then out of nowhere my biological brother tells me that he'll be moving from the Atlanta Georgia area to either Providence RI or the Boston MA area. He'll be making this move within the next 8-10 months. That will place him in either a 3 or 4 hour drive from my home. So, starting next winter I'll be able to take several breaks from the harsh Maine winters by driving to stay with my brother. When my brother told me about his plans to move I had to sit down because I thought I was going to faint. Then I cried tears of joy for the next ten minutes.