the last e-mail ‘facebook message’ that i received from dvb, my now-australian bff who knows me better than most, ended with:
well, cheers, I hope you have a blast in Montreal! It hasn’t failed us yet 🙂
as always, he’s quite wise: i will and it really hasn’t.
i’m sad he won’t be along for this adventure. if he were, it would be our third round at this exact same time of year.
(in fact, if he were along, it would be his turn to be patient with me, with a patience level beyond most’s capacity, because that’s how the pendulum has worked so far.)
see: to date, montreal has been the place of discoveries, and new beginnings. the place of patios, dancing, street festivals, metro-navigating, laughter, intense weather, accommodation nightmares, language barriers, and stories you would have had to live to fully comprehend. i have a fondness for montreal comparable to my connection to trochu’s calmness, red deer college’s bricked halls, or red robin’s dimmed lights after close.
when you realize all that, it doesn’t seem strange that mind, body, and soul i’m excited for this trip. it doesn’t seem as strange that next week i’m taking a week-long intensive french class in preparation. or that i’m going to the gym/swimming so i can feel my best when i’m there. or that much of my e-mail/texting/facebook time has been devoted that chunk of my summer break. see: part of me’s already there.
I was just able to take my family to Montreal [more accurately, they took me]. While I’m aware that the twinkle in my eye while there outweighed their twinkles collectively, it was really great to share with them a place i’m so excited about and connected to.
So here’s to round 5 (Round 5 in two short years). Here’s to it being a blast. And here’s to a city and culture that hasn’t failed me in any way, shape, or form to date! The more the merrier, so if I see you there… just look for the big smile attempting his best-french and best-dancemoves!
😀