Letters Home #23 💌

Writing from: Banff, Alberta

Dear Ones —

Looking at my calendar on January 1, 2023, I wasn’t sure how I’d make it to June.

My family’s usual matrix of comings and goings had been amplified by a few factors, some of them fun, some of them the aftermath of the pandemic that put our lives on hold for so long. Between photo workshops, family travel, book events, visits, and a full-blown reunion, my little family of four has barely coexisted under one roof for the better part of this year so far. But both my husband and I knew that June would offer us a change. We’d be done with the COVID catch-up of trips that had been postponed for years.

We’re nearly there.

Yesterday we flew home from a family reunion in Ottawa, where my parents were celebrating their 50th anniversary. The occasion itself, and the chance to be surrounded by family and friends I hadn’t seen in years, offered enough reminders of what’s truly important in life. For me, there was also a bittersweetness about the whole gathering, an awareness of how wond…