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Vancouver, Canada

This is it, my final week in Vancouver – time to make sure I get to spend as much time with my nearest and dearest as possible. I actually have a timetable to make sure I can squeeze it all in. I had grand plans of hosting soirees in my apartment but with everyones busy lifestyles, its turned out easier to break it down into groups of availability – tonight Yael and Mika.

I headed to the shops to buy supplies for the weeks entertaining opting to take the scenic route there and back. I was richly rewarded with yet more geese and goslings in the waterways around the Olympic Village. Heavily laden, I stopped back at my apartment to dump the first load with the intention of going out for a few more bits and pieces but was waylaid by a skype with my sister Rebecca.

I decided to waste not, want not and cook up the delicious food Sheliza had sent me home with the other night, especially as there is no other gap in the weeks schedule for such a meal. I quickly got changed into the fancy top Rachael left me with because I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to wear it just as my phone rang to announce my guests had arrived.

The night that transpired was nothing short of phenomenal. The nights I had previously spent with Yael and Mika individually had been life altering. To have them both in one room on one night was equally transforming. It is simply not possible to be in the company of two such rare and beautiful souls and not be changed by the experience. As we ate and drank and drank, we talked with such ease about the parts of ourselves that never see the light of day (I’m talking metaphorically, not about my legs).

Tonight these wonderful women helped me see the extraordinary distance I have travelled in such a short time (again, metaphorical, not air miles) and gave me the confidence to simply embrace happiness and hope and to keep on learning and growing. Yael, Mika – thank you.

(N.B. Despite all this lovely business above, I do feel compelled to confess dear readers that tonight was a game night and you will have gleaned from the story above that I was neither in my Canucks t-shirt, nor downtown and you know what that means – yes, we lost and its my fault. We have now equalised with the Bruins and there is one game left – the decider. Watch this space – come Wednesday, I will be downtown in my t-shirt and the Canucks will bring home the Stanley Cup!!!)

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