October 7, 2024Monday, October 7, 2024

Just a thought… There is no homecoming like the one where you’re greeted by someone – or something – that loves you, that missed you, and that can’t wait to show you just how much. [Me]

Well, we’re home and, most importantly, back in our own bed (although travelling with my own enVy Pillow and a weighted blanket makes every house, every hotel room feel like home). Which reminds me: in this Thursday’s Gracefully & Frankly Episode 94 (the Oh-So-Thankful edition) I’ll tell you about a problem that my beloved blanket caused me at the airport. Live and learn!

Behind the N-95 mask I wore the whole way home, I let myself have a rare cry on the flight from Toronto to Victoria; it had nothing to do with problems in the air, but seeing a sweet toddler and her mom brought on sadness and reflection on what – and whom – we were leaving behind.

As I hope you saw on FB we had some wonderful time with friends in the GTA and, of course, with family in Ottawa. It was all so sweet, in fact, that it made leaving all the harder, while we come back to a place we’re struggling to make feel like home. Isn’t that strange after nearly eight years of living here?

As this week includes meeting a new therapist online, I’m making plans to have things to look forward to, including a winter away, but for now it’s just the day-to-day. Waking up from dreams of being with Colin and wishing him an easy life as he moves into double-digits later this week, treading water in the milky soft memories of a trip that provided us with a bit of clarity: they are gone, they are happy, the blessed chapter of having our grandkids living nearby has closed.

I have a special video to accompany today’s journal that I think you’re going to love. I tried to be as calm as I could when we entered the condo to two happy dogs, but I finally caught a crazy homecoming on video in three parts: first, the welcome and a game we play every time we come back even from just a few hours away called “Where’s Daddy?” Then, the dogs giving us complete facials until I cried “I surrender.” First me, then Rob.

The voice you hear in the background on a work call and then laughing at the silliness of our antics is Celia, a friend-of-a-friend (and now ours, too), who stayed here for 12 days with the pups. They all became attached at the heart as well as the leashes, and we’re so grateful she gave them love, treats and care to the point where they still wander around looking for her.

And so, here’s the video. Our hearts are full of gratitude as we head into this week before Thanksgiving. And as we do, let me thank YOU for coming by, for watching my videos whether on grief (Not a Mourning Person) or listening to G&F or Drift with Erin Davis. You keep me engaged, just busy enough and grateful to have you and all of these projects to keep me going.

Be well. Enjoy the unbounded love in this video. (Oh and, yes, I got my hair cut and roots done the day after I shot this – yikes!)