Reflection

I wrote this post a while ago and forgot to post it. It's never too late, I reckon....

Over the past couple of months, I’ve had frequent flashbacks from my travels. I’ve been in contact with several people whom I met and have made a point of keeping in contact with regularly. I’m going to tell you about some of them.

Emails from my aunt Susie from Liverpool are fairly regular though we tend to facetime or skype more often. I have been thinking of her, and my uncle Terry so much. They were going to come here for a visit but due to some health circumstances had to cancel their trip. During the time they would have been here, I kept thinking of the things we would be doing together – exploring Vancouver, driving through the Okanagan wine country on our way to Nelson, drives, walks, art exhibitions, theatre, and introducing them to my beloved Nelson would have given me such pleasure. They were so amazing to me whilst I was in Liverpool and it was an opportunity for me to treat them. The weather here was gorgeous – sunny and hot the whole time. My aunt in particular is fond of the warmer climate so she would have been in heaven. No mossies either! Hopefully they can come next year instead.

A year ago I found myself walking Hadrian’s Wall and met some really wonderful people there. One of my favourite travel mates ever was Foxy and I think of her and our time there as well as in Liverpool where I saw her frequently. We hope to do another walk together, maybe the Camino from Portugal or the Wales Coast Path. Whatever we choose it is certain to be an adventure with lots of laughs.

Another amazing {amazing!!} woman I met was Rochelle. She was volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata where we met. We are roughly the same age and had an instant connection and though we worked in different areas, we managed to get to know each other a little bit. Her story is incredible. She is Canadian and lived in Toronto area, working at a good job until one day she decided to quit her job and go to Kolkata to volunteer. She is not Catholic but had read about and admired the work the sisters do there. She got herself a ticket with a return date of six months from then and made her way across the world to a place so different in every way to Canada. She settled in and worked with the mentally and developmentally challenged women at Prem Dam teaching them art and other life skills. She also worked in the afternoons at the orphanage and I’m sure, other things as well. When I met her, she’d been there two months. She kept in regular contact with her family and friends via emails from her iPad and when I left, I asked her to add me to her list. I have been receiving her Sunday updates ever since. Here’s where the story gets really interesting. Because of her success with the program she was doing with the women, the sisters asked her if she would be willing to go to Sri Lanka where they were setting up a similar home there. She followed her heart and off she went. Her heart took her straight to the man she was meant to meet and marry a few months later! She and Roshan are living happily in Kandy, doing their work together in a place where people like them are so needed. How awesome is this!!? She sent me an email a couple of days ago as she had just been to a gathering where a letter was read regarding my dear friend Creos who I also met at Motherhouse and who passed away last year. He was, for me, one of those people who have a huge impact on you and you don’t know how it all came to happen. Serendipity. Faith. Fate. I still can’t believe he is gone and I’ll never see him again.

My friend Flora from London, whom I met in India as well, is now travelling through South America. She writes an incredible blog which I have been following. Her strength of character, wit, charm and grace have given me hope for this generation of vibrant women. I am honored to know her and the other young women I met and travelled with in India – Jess, Bianca, Fiona, Steph, Linnea, Emiko and Diana. I keep up with them all on the Facebook group we created for just that reason. Ah, I miss them all.

So it seems the universe is trying to tell me something. I can’t stop thinking about my travels and the people I met along the way. Am I supposed to keep travelling? I want to go back to India. To volunteer and immerse myself once again in that chaotic but simple life. I long to see more of the world – China, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, North India, Sri Lanka, Eastern Europe, South America (but only if I can go for at least 4 months) the list goes on, but there are places I’ve been that I loved so much I want to go back!

Although I discarded the hippy bracelets that graced my wrist long ago, I still wear the necklace with my scallop shell from the Camino, my celtic cross from Santiago, my larimar stone from Morocco and my St. Christopher’s medal from one of the sisters at Motherhouse. I find my hand goes to these talismen, these reminders of how I discovered who I am and what moves me. As I fondle these items, I continue to wonder what my purpose is. Time will tell….