(I originally wrote this around and after December 23, 2007. It has been edited a little for clarity. It’s been really nice to finally publish some stuff that’s been languishing in my drafts and unbeatable to take a walk down memory lane.)
When I arrived at the big (new-ish) terminal at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson Airport on Sunday morning with very little sleep and much stimulation from the night before, I had a little cry. I was leaving again and I was flooded by all the decisions that once took me to Toronto and subsequently took me away and keeps me away.
I live in Vancouver now but my first Canadian city outside of my hometown of Halifax is Toronto. I feel alive there in a way that Vancouver fails to awake me. It’s a big city thing. It will always draw me back no matter where I end up.
For one day, December 22, we three best girlfriends got together. We did everything: chilling, drinking, shopping, cooking, and clubbing. We also had the special treat of sitting around a Christmas tree and opening our presents to each other.
I learned that…
* My dancing shoes hurt so much they usually sober me up. But pour more alcohol down my throat than I usually allow and I am dancing again, sans problem!
* Why I run — to be in FINE form!
* Toronto is so diverse and multicultural and I was floored by the genial attitudes from service people and random acts of kindness from strangers on transit.
* My friends and I span 5 years and 3 continents of original but we are the product of immigrant parents and we went through our formative years together in the late 1990s – we’ve mastered several forms of
communication and it helps as we move in to our 9-10th years of friendship and now live in 3 different cities.
* Despite not being all together in 2 years, we haven’t changed as people – we have changed in material wealth and general sophistication but and increased understanding and tolerance of each other’s quirks.