Back at home

It's good to be back. I feel less torn now between this life and my life in Calgary --- they no longer feel like they're in competition with one another; they are just DIFFERENT parts of one life. Until I can learn to "conveniently bi-locate" like Saint Frances, I just need to learn to balance them, both practically and emotionally.

My Calgary children have grown some, as children tend to do. The ones that I lived with, however, still fit perfectly onto my lap and have not grown too heavy to pick up and squeeze the stuffings out of. I think when they met me at the airport I was shocked by how LITTLE they have changed in two years.

One of my most vivid memories of previous times in Calgary was when I came back the second summer and arrived while my host family (also the pastoral family) was at district camp. After several days of reorienting myself with the house and the city, they returned home, and Julia (then 6) threw herself into my arms and wouldn't let go. Her little body started shaking and I realized she was crying (as I was) because she was so happy that I was there.

This time around, I think a part of me was a little scared that the kids would play strange. And as I arrived at the bottom of the escalator, I thought I was right. But after just a few seconds I found myself with a slightly taller Julia hanging around my neck. She stayed there while I hugged everyone else hello because I couldn't (and didn't want to) detach her. My new vivid memory.

More soon.