canadian summer moments
we spent two weeks in canada. i was feeling a bit ambivalent about the trip before we went... looking forward to seeing my siblings, spending time with my mother, having some tim horton's, enjoying the exchange rate, touching base with my birthplace a little... dreading the jam packed schedule, the flights, the airports, worrying about people getting along, wondering how much people had changed.
it turned out to be a wonderful trip. i will always remember showing eleanor newfoundland... even if she won't. watching her play with the rocks on middle cove beach, and listening to the waves break.
there was one moment i wish i could write about, but it's not my moment. but i'll cherish that i got to be there. when the moment is right, i'll write. i'm marking it here as a reminder.
eleanor's aunts and uncles ate her up and loved her to pieces. she had a very special relationship with my youngest sister, fifteen year old alison. so much that ellie called after her... crying her name when they had to say goodbye. i found out later, alison cried for half an hour in the car afterwards.
my step-mother gave eleanor her old violin. a child's violin. it will be cherished and i hope to watch eleanor learn to play it when she's older.
we took mad moll out of halifax harbour, taking eleanor on her first sailing trip. she was scared at first but soon found her feet. she kept pointing out boats ("boat!") and the water ("water!"). she looked so funny in her lifejacket.
tim and i got married in nova scotia 11 years ago, so we took a day trip out to wolfville to be all sentimental and order some scotskins from joe's. we got my sister, kevina, to take a cheesy polaroid of us standing in front of the chapel, american gothic style.
i realized only today that it was the first time that all of us... my siblings... were together in the same place for 11 years. and for that the whole trip was worth it. oh, and the lobster. the lobster is always worth it.
my sister adrienne drove us to the airport and we hugged and said goodbye and we cried. i was sad because the week was so busy and over so quick and we only managed to have a meaningful conversation, just us, in the car before we checked in. but happy because in that conversation, i realized even though it was 7 years since i last saw her, we still knew each other. she was still adrienne. not an adult stranger i would have to get to know all over again.
eleanor still asks every day to look at photos from canada, saying everyone's names as she sees them.
(i uploaded more photos at my flickr account)