I love flying into British Columbia. I've made this trip countless times over the last decade & while I always have this inward struggle of leaving my home in the prairies to flying to my old home where I grew up, I've still always loved this flight to BC. I usually get the early morning flight because there's virtually no traffic on my way to the airport & I simply prefer a calm & quiet airport in the morning. Also, it allow me a full day in BC with my friends, family or just by myself when I arrive. I sometimes catch a nap on the first flight hopping over to Edmonton or Calgary & then I typically stay awake for the flight into Abbotsford. I always try & get a window seat solely for the purpose of looking out the window to see all the mountains on our way in. There's no mountains over here in the prairies & I do really miss them.
I love where I grew up, but I also felt very called to a slower, simpler life here in the prairies. I love the trees, mountains & especially the ocean in BC, but the rain gets to you after awhile. At least to me it did. I love my family & friends I grew up with in BC but home in the prairies is where I met my husband & my new family. Home now is where our kids were born & raised. (Funny side note: my parents were actually born & raised in Saskatchewan!! Then moved to Winnipeg when they first got married, then down to British Columbia).
I love to gaze upon the mountain tops flying into BC, sipping on my starbucks - baby asleep on my lap. But this experience always brings up a feeling of uncertainty. Like maybe I've got this all wrong. Is it good for me & my family to be away from my family. Will my children grow up knowing what it was like for me to adventure those forests & mountains? Will they get the chance to explore it themselves? Where we grew up plays a huge role in our identity, so how do we find the balance? How do we cope with this struggle of feeling like we need to be in two places at once? How do we decide?
Where we grow up tells a big part of our story. It moulds & shapes us into who we are today. We might not notice it much if we've never experienced this, but it's there. I've noticed it every time I take this flight to my old stomping grounds. It amazes me just how integral our surroundings are to us, to our very core of being.
Does anyone else struggle with this? If you've moved from where you grew up, do you feel like this?
xo
-Liz Lemon