Family

It was never my family's style to get 'mushy' even though it had been 9 months since I had seen my parents. Alberta welcomed me with the same freezing cold and wet weather it had welcomed me with the first day of my journey. The clouds that I had so miraculously avoided from Manitoba through Saskatchewan finally started camping out on top of me. Trina's family in Yorkton, Shauna's family in Lethbridge, the Goddens & Dorans in Calgary I was fortunate to work my way back into familial relationships. I was surprised how normal it all felt. Travellers amnesia set in fast; all the miracles and disappointments of the journey were soon forgotten, and reality set in.

Mom was taking pictures of rainsoaked me by the time I was parked in the farmyard, and dad was out soon after. She was getting a bit teared up, but dad acted like nothing happened. I gave them both a hug. We settled in quickly, but I remember feeling like a stranger in my parents house, the house I raided the fridge in for almost 40 years. This isnt my house, this is their house.

The weekend boasted a great Chapman reunion of over 20 relatives and we played the name game to catch everyones. We sat around the fire in the garage all weekend except to play the bean bag toss in which I lost out in the first round. I enjoyed it all.

The come down was an anxiety filled day of expectation and realizations. I wasnt going to let it win, especially after 9 months of working on my own inner strength, so I found a good medical book about taking charge of ones own emotional and physical health, and that gave me a lot of optimism and focus on feeling better.