Well. It is summer in Canada. A short event. I am a teacher so I finally get some time off. I am once again on the road. Last summer I went down the west coast from Vancouver to LA and then over to Las Vegas and back up to Calgary. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to road-trip my whole summer away this year.
I love the freedom of the road trip. No day-to-day drudgery of life at home without Dave. No physical reminders of his absence. No music festivals without him, no time at the cabin without him, no barbeques without him, no summer patios without him etc etc.
I am running away from my missing him. And I am totally fine with that. I don’t want to live in it. I want to avoid it. I want to miss him in a way that doesn’t trigger the past. I want to create new memories of new places. I want to see the world on my terms. Besides, I love to travel. I love to see new places.
So, this year, I am on a cross-Canada road-trip. I have driven out of Alberta, across Saskatchewan and Manitoba and am now most of the way through Ontario. My goal is to see and experience the Atlantic Ocean. So several more provinces and one state are yet to come!
I have the lovely opportunity to travel with my half-sister. She too is a widow. We have never spent this kind of time together. It is a new experience for both of us. She is 16 years older than me so had left home by the the time I was a real kid with memories. So far, so good!!
Across the praireis to the Canadian Shield, we were able to visit and stay with several people that I haven’t seen in years. Some were her friends and family, some were mine. It has been interesting and somehow soul nourishing. These people knew me long before either of my husbands. They knew me as me – alone and on my own, as I am now, and they totally accept me for whom I am and have become.
There is something very special about re-connecting with people you grew up with. There is an unconditional acceptance that is hard to find elsewhere. At least that has been my experience. It is hard to articulate the experiences I have had with people from my long-ago past.
Now, we are away from anyone we know for a while. We are staying in motels and watching this big beautiful country pass by. We talk and talk and sing and remember and look out at the beautiful views.
This is one big, beautiful world we live in - and it is so good to be reminded of that truth.
