O Canada

We had an event in Canada last week, and we decided to drive so we could stop off and see my cousin along the way. It’s an 8-hour drive to my friend’s city, and my cousin lives about 5 hours into the trip. It had been 8 months since I last met up with my cousin on the Massachusetts/Vermont border because we both happened to be in the same area on the same weekend.

I have Zoom lunch with my cousin every other week, so it’s not as if I hadn’t seen her face in the last 8 months, but I hadn’t gotten a massive hug from her in a random strip mall parking lot in those 8 months. I hadn’t gotten to bury my face on her shoulder and let out a few sobs of happiness. I hadn’t gotten to sit across from her in perfect weather, drinking a steamer and talking.

And then I got to see my friend and her whole family and lots of people I know from high school or college or life beyond. And I got to be in Canada, which just makes me happy.

My mother commented that I did a year’s worth of socializing in a single long weekend, and she’s correct. But it made me feel lucky to be invited to things and to have such cool people in my life.