Our Story
Believe it or not, our very first conversation - before we were dating or a couple - flirted with the idea of moving to Spain together. And here we are, about 15 years later, at the precipice of making that leap. Wild.
A little history: back in 2016, Joseph dove into the bureaucratic maze to snag his Spanish citizenship, made possible because of his Sephardic heritage. Long story short: his ancestors were Spanish Jews who were kicked out of the country because of the inquisition (which nobody suspected.) They fled to Rhodes, Greece and stayed there for about 450 years. In that time, their Spanish morphed into a dialect called Ladino, which is mostly Spanish but has traces of Turkish, Greek, and other things thrown in to the mix. When fascism came to Europe, Mussolini controlled the island and implemented a spate of antisemitic laws, like raiding Jewish cemeteries to build a fascistic fanboy castle dedicated to Mussolini. Really. Joseph's great-grandparents fled to Seattle and set up a fruit stand in Pike Place Market. (Good thing too. Everyone who stayed was murdered in Auschwitz by the Nazis.) His grandfather, born in the U.S., had to repeat kindergarten because he only spoke Ladino. And that language, that obscure, dying dialect of Spanish which was sprinkled throughout Joseph's childhood, is what connects him to Spain and made all of this possible.
In 2018, Eleanor sauntered into our lives, a seemingly perpetual whirlwind of giggles who endlessly craves snuggles. We've always wanted her to be a citizen of the world. And now we had the opportunity to make that happen, both figuratively and literally.
Fast forward to the rollercoaster of 2020. Trapped indoors like a trio of caged birds, we realized life's too short not to chase our dreams. With every Zoom call, we dreamt of flying the coop. Our wanderlust grew stronger.
And Eleanor? Oh, she's been our tiny cheerleader, reminding us daily that life's an adventure worth embracing.
Sure, the road ahead will have hiccups and detours. That's unavoidable. But we're ready to face whatever comes our way. Because this move isn't just a change of scenery. Yes, we want live in a new culture and language to jolt us out of our comfort zones. But we also want to prioritize spending more time with each other as a family and building relationships with the people we love. (That's you!) Along those lines, please come visit us if you're able to. The hardest part about leaving is saying goodbye to all of you - for now.
So, as we pack our bags and kiss goodbye to the familiar - once on each cheek, of course - we do it with hearts full of laughter, excitement, and a whole lot of ¡Viva España!
