Family Matters

My family, on both the maternal and paternal sides, started in Winnipeg, but over the years many of them moved west to Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. We were the only ones who headed east. My parents and their siblings have all passed away now, but Karen and I wanted to touch base with the relatives who remain, so we planned a trip to reconnect.

We first flew to Winnipeg, our home until I was ten, to visit the relatives on our mom’s side. My cousin Arliss and I are the same age and I have fond memories of us as children, playing with our imaginary horses (Lightning and Thunderbolt) and our pretend monkeys (Chiquita and Coconut).

I mentioned this quote in my last post and it came to mind often during this trip.

“This is what time travel is. It’s looking at a person, and seeing them in the present and the past, concurrently. And that mode of transport only worked with those one had known a significant time.”

Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

We look at each other and still see the children we were, but also the adults we’ve become, and it feels surreal. How can we, the little girls giggling in our childhood bedrooms, be talking about retirement and grandchildren? How did we travel so quickly through time?

Arliss’s three siblings are quite a bit older than us, so we have fewer memories of them as children, but we saw all of them on this trip too. Our aunt, in a care home now, didn’t know who any of us were, but she was nevertheless delighted to see us and we had a lovely visit. We spent the evening listening to my cousin’s son and his girlfriend make beautiful music on the outdoor patio of a local restaurant.

After two nights in Winnipeg, we flew to Calgary and had a wonderful home-cooked meal while catching up with our cousins on my dad’s side. Although we never lived in the same province, our families always felt an instant connection when we got together growing up. My dad and his brother shared an almost identical sense of humour and would keep us all in stitches. It’s certainly not the same without them there, but still a lot of laughs and memories to share.

The next morning I visited a former work colleague, then Karen and I drove to Edmonton in our rental car and had dinner with the rest of my dad’s brother’s family.

Having touched base with all our relatives, we drove to Canmore for a couple days of sister time in the mountains (unlike Ray and Nick, we prefer viewing the mountains from down below rather than climbing them).

We rented e-bikes and rode from Canmore to Banff. It was sunny and warm when we arrived in Banff so of course the first thing we did was get ice cream. As soon as we sat down, the sky clouded over, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped significantly, and it started to rain. We checked the forecast (which that morning had been for clear skies all day) and there was a 70% chance of a thunderstorm in the next few hours, so we hopped right back on our bikes and rode back to Canmore. We made it back without getting too wet. Our second day in Canmore was sunny and hot so we walked and talked and ate ice cream.

The older we get, the more profoundly aware we are of the passage of time. We hope not to let as much time pass before we reconnect with family again.