Sunrise from plane entering the US October 2017.
Autumn has always been my favorite time of year. The colors of the changing leaves. That crisp scent in the air, earth mingled with embers from bonfires. The cooler temperatures that dance on the line of perfection: comfortable in jeans and a cozy, oversized sweater.
And then there is the beauty of daybreak and sunset, a backdrop to all these autumn sensations. Rays of light catch the mist lingering in the air, and dew glimmers in the morning.
Beyond its natural beauty, autumn has always been a season of change. As a child and teenager, it meant settling back into the rhythm of school and activities after summer break. As an adult, it marked the beginning of the fourth quarter: the final thirteen weeks of finishing one business plan while preparing the next.
Driving to work on those early mornings, knowing the chaos waiting for me, I found calm in watching the sun rise. After a long day, the sunset offered another moment to pause.
Other beginnings have arrived in autumn, too, unfolding more organically than the resolutions we make on New Year’s Eve. Falling in love. Moving in together. Getting married. Bringing home a new puppy.
There have been more serious changes as well, like starting daily cancer treatments. But that is a story that deserves its own breathing room.
This photograph was taken on a special day in 2017. It marked a new beginning for me and for my fiancé, who was leaving his life in another country to build a new one in the United States with me.
Months of planning, navigating government forms and interviews, and hearing a mix of support and speculation from friends had brought us to this moment: leaving his home country together to begin our life in mine.
The memory of that day remains vivid. This photograph reminds me that a sunrise holds more than the promise of a new day. It reminds me that we can choose new beginnings at any time.
But what better time of year than autumn, and what better month than October?
