Chapter 18: Home Sweet Home

“Home, sweet home. This is the place to find happiness. If one doesn’t find it here, one doesn’t find it anywhere.”

— M. K. Soni

When the perfume of wisteria blows through the air, it has a character that is mysteriously ethereal. Its fragrance is delicate, yet persistent, and it encapsulates the spirit of spring and early summer. The gentle breeze lifts the lovely scent, which floats in the air like silk ribbon. This comes from the clusters of tiny lavender flowers on the vine from the neighbor's garden. Gentle, deep inhalations calm the soul of Alex, a reminder of his favorite smell.

All of these things whispered to them, quietly, stirring gratitude that they have arrived at a place where they truly belong. The smells of home-cooked meals wafting through the air, the small, not-so-busy street outside, the laughter of neighbors mingling with the distant sounds of grass cutters, and the comforting rhythm of daily life in their community were all things that they experienced. 

The main house's second-floor window curtains moved, and the grandmother stood, her silhouette momentarily still in the midst of her daily routines. Through the window, her eyes caught a glimpse, she saw her oldest grandson and his family standing outside the entry gate, observing the place, and the youngest bouncing with youthful energy and a smile that mirrored the one she held for him years ago.

Suddenly, the years vanished, and she surged to the door with a youthful vigor she hadn't felt in years. Her steps, often slow and measured, were now quick and eager, as if each one bridged the gap between the present and the countless cherished moments of the past. Her heart swelled, a tide of love and anticipation washing over her, warming her aged bones more than summer ever could. As she reached the ground-floor door and flung it open, the sight of young family filled her vision. Their faces, alight with smiles and the glow of returning home, were flickers of happiness. Her great-grandson, in a whirlwind of excitement and chatter, rushed to her, his small hands reaching for the familiar comfort of her embrace. Alex, his eyes reflecting the same deep pools of familial love, stepped forward. As Anatig's movements looked like a dance of reunion and unspoken understanding.

“Senele panele!" Look, I brought you the little one you always wanted to see, like I promised!” said Alex, pointing at Vilhelm. 

"Oh, my little treasure! Each one of you is as special as the moments we share,” cheerfully said Senele Panele.

“You look as though you've found the fountain of youth.  The last time we met... you looked somehow older,” Alex said with cheeky smile.

Seeing all of you together is the only youth I need. Time may pass, but this love, this family... it's timeless," said the grandmother. 

“We've missed you coming around and bothering us with stories, your laughter and complaints. Home doesn't feel the same without them,” chuckled Anatig. 

Everyone, chatting cheerfully, headed toward their old garage house. Vilhelmas ran ahead, remembering the pushbike he’d left behind the house. The air carried the sweetness of coming home—a feeling that lingers long after the moment passes. At the garage house, Grandma unlocked the door and invited everyone inside. No words were needed as they embraced one another, their hugs speaking of love and a deep bond that time and distance could never diminish. In that embrace, the youngest grandmother felt the weight of years lift, her heart dancing to the rhythm of pure joy. The young family, choosing to return home, realized it was more than just retreating to familiar walls; it was a chance to rekindle long-forgotten ties and continue their life’s story where it had once begun. With the lawsuit settlement, the family agreed upon buying a car, installing new heating heating system in the garage and Alex's paid off fully for his grandparents' summer house. His vision was with a little expansion proper family house for the future. Vilhelm started kindergarten, and Anatig began make-up classes to follow her passion and pursue a career in the beauty industry. That is what she wanted, and Alex did everything to make it happen for her.

Simultaneously, Alex secured a position with the region's leading distributor of food and hygiene products, beginning his journey as a sales agent. His knack for leadership didn't go unnoticed, and soon he ascended to the role of hygiene department manager. This promotion, a significant milestone in his career, filled him with eager anticipation. The prospects of the newly remodelled home that the family was finally started building stood as a beacon of hope for a bright future and also lifted their spirits. Meanwhile, Anatig, having completed her studies, leapt into the professional world, joining a burgeoning makeup store franchise hailing from Sweden. Observing her in this new role, Alex could see—with a clarity that warmed his heart—she had finally seized her lifelong dream. This realization brought a quiet, profound joy to Alex, as witnessing the flourishing of his loved ones was his ultimate aspiration. The sight of his son thriving in a kindergarten tailored to his needs and his wife blossoming in her ideal career filled him with such a sense of accomplishment. From the outside looking in, it appeared like the family was heading straight for a better future. 

After expanding the cottage’s foundation, the bank loan became a necessity and application sat half-completed on Alex’s desk inside garage house, but something in his gut twisted every time he reached for his pen. A voice, soft but insistent as a heartbeat, whispered, Wait!.

Months later, that whisper proved prophetic. The first tremors of the 2008 upcoming global recession rippled through Wall Street like hairline cracks in glass, spreading until the entire financial framework shattered. Alex watched the news each evening, the blue glow of the TV reflecting off Anatig's worried face as news anchors spoke of toxic assets and subprime mortgages in increasingly desperate tones. The numbers scrolling across the bottom of the screen told a story of free-fall: markets plunging, savings evaporating, dreams turning to dust, people losing their fortunes and some even ending their lives.

In Lithuania, the crisis crept in like autumn frost.  Politicians reassured repeatedly there was no recession, all the while Alex watched in disbelief as the whole world crumbled.  Lithuania boasted, “We are fine.”  But in fact, they were not. And soon, job shortages came, businesses closed or went up for sale, and new shop windows that had gleamed with promise now collected dust and "For Lease" signs. Many lives were affected—and along with them was Alex and Anatig.  The streets grew quieter, save for the whispered conversations of neighbors comparing layoff notices. Anatig's workplace, once vibrant with the hum of commerce, fell silent desk by desk. Her paycheck, regular as sunrise for years, became ghost—promised but never materializing. For six months, she walked through those doors, hope dwindling with each unpaid week, until finally, the locks were changed and bankruptcy notices plastered the windows. She was out of a job without pay for six months!

In Alex office, freshly promoted to head of the service department, Mr. Šveicas, nicknamed “the Swiss,” prowled the hallways like a predator stalking prey. His tailored suits seemed to grow sharper as the company’s fortunes dwindled, and his gold-rimmed glasses glinted like warning signals when he peered through them. That morning, unaware of what awaited, Alex was summoned to Šveicas’s office for a talk. Stepping inside, he saw a black leather chair in front of the desk, looking like an electric chair, and Šveicas, with a flourish, invited him to sit in it.

" The numbers speak for themselves," Swiss said, his manicured fingers tapping a spreadsheet showing a mere 5% sales decline. The air conditioning hummed, turning small office into a morgue.  "We're restructuring the department structures, and we're adding your department to service as one entity, and your position... is being adjusted."

Alex gulped.

“Nothing personal, Alex,” said the flashy suit, “but these are tough times for everyone here and the company.”

He wasn’t fired, but almost worst.  The words landed like body blows: salary slashed, company car recalled and status stripped away. Two weeks later, Alex stared at his bank balance—a row of zeros that seemed to multiply before his eyes, mocking his almost three years of corporate loyalties.

In quiet moments, when the house settled into uneasy silence after another argument with Anatig, Alex could feel his psyche splintering. The moment things got tough, the arguments, the blame, and the dissatisfaction surfaced. The successful professional, the devoted husband, the caring father—these personas were cracking like thin ice under pressure. Beneath them lurked something darker: a wounded child's survival mechanisms, honed by years of neglect, ready to sacrifice everything to escape pain. Alex knew that to keep them happy and secure, he needed a new plan.

Vilhelm's footsteps above the ground floor became a metronome counting down to inevitable collapse. Each soft thud overhead was a reminder of responsibilities Alex wasn't emotionally equipped to handle. His son's presence—both a blessing and a burden—triggered deep-seated patterns of flight learned in his own childhood. The shadow of being needed, of being essential to another’s well-being, gnawed at old bruises in his mind.

Suddenly a potential job offer came from the UK.  It wasn't just a job offer—it was more akin to permission to run. A friends voice through the speaker spoke of salary and numbers, but Alex heard something else: the siren song of escape. His unconscious mind, trained by childhood trauma to seek exit routes, latched onto this opportunity not as a solution but as release.

Standing in the moonlit bedroom, watching Anatig's and Vilhelms peaceful sleep, Alex felt the familiar dissociation settling in—the emotional distancing that had protected him through childhood chaos. He told himself this decision was about providing for his family, about being responsible. But deeper down, in the shadowed valleys of his psyche where truth resided, he knew: this was his wounded inner child choosing flight over fight, seeking the familiar comfort of absence over the terrifying challenge of presence.

The irony wasn't lost on him—in trying to be the provider his family needed, he was following the very patterns that had wounded him as a child. His decision to leave, wrapped in the respectable cloak of financial necessity and security, carried the same DNA as his father's abandonments. Yet the pull was irresistible, like gravity drawing him toward a familiar abyss.  As a young man, he saw that our most ruinous tendencies often masquerade as our saviors.

In that moonlit moment, as he watched his wife's chest rise and fall with peaceful breaths, almost three years later Alex stood at the crossroads that he experienced before, once more between breaking cycles and perpetuating them again. The UK job offered an escape, not just financial pressure, but also from the harder work of facing his demons, of learning to stay present when every cell in his body screamed RUN! The choice before him wasn't really about geography or economics—it was about whether he could face his shadows and find the strength to rewrite his childhood programming or whether he would let old wounds dictate new scars. Only much later Alex will come to realize, the universe doesn't make mistakes.  If you're not going to learn the lesson, the universe always will find a way to put you back in the place where you keep repeating the same, mistakes, identical lessons repeating cycle until you learn.

 NEXT WEEK! Chapter 19: A Tableau of Solitude and Triumph

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