Hugs

Today is the first day of our new life, and I am writing this while on a layover in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. From the next post on, we will be writing about where our adventure takes us, and not how we are preparing for it. But this post is not that.

We became homeless on August 21, and we have been overjoyed to spend the next two weeks in the company of, and being hugged by, so many dear friends and family members.

We moved in with our son, daughter-in-law and grandson for our final 4 days in Calgary, and selfishly kept Alex out of daycare for 3 of those 4 days so we could stockpile in-person hugs and giggles for the times to come when our hearts and arms feel a bit empty. We enjoyed several evening chat sessions (and a drink or two) with Kyle and Candice. Thank you for taking such good care of us!

We drove to Vancouver, and barged in on sis’s house sit in Kits. Janice and Mike always treat us like royalty and, though they are also squatting (as they put it), their hospitality went above and beyond as always. A bonus was visiting the Sunshine Coast for a few days with them. An extra pleasure since we never tire of being oceanside.

Friends came together with almost no advanced warning of our arrival. We spent lovely evenings with Shirley and Ken, Helen and Wayne, Soren and Liana, and Dom and Janet. How lucky we are to have friends who will spend time with us at the drop of a hat and leave us all warm and fuzzy when we say goodbye.

We managed a couple of visits with each of our moms, and even a short and sweet chat with my out-of-town (now in-town) sister. Good to check in and catch up.

We probably won’t see most of you for many months, but we take with us your hugs. Know we will be thinking of you all, and often.