canada

The last time I visited Canada was 11 years ago when my granddaughter Caitlin was born. She joined her brother Callum with my daughter and husband in their new lives in Canada. When my daughter Gabriella first went to live in Canada, Callum was only three years old. She had arranged for the canadian part of the firm she worked for in Uk, to have a job there so she could emigrate with her family. Because her husband had his grandparents living in the Vancouver area after his aunt had married a canadian, that was the first place they settled. I was lucky enough to be able to visit them there a few times, and found that even the winter was easy to cope with, it being a much milder part of the country. However with work, Gabriella had to transfer to Toronto, and they lived in a little town called Aurora. They had a marvelous new house, and the son grew stronger every day and then to complete their happiness their daughter joined them as I said, 11 years ago. With an age gap of 6 years I think that Callum had his nose put slightly out of joint.. from being sole to sharing did not come easy to him. As he grew into his teens, they decided to move somewhere more rural and to get him away from bad influences that he had made. They settled in a place a couple of hours away from Toronto, and found a home with three acres to live on. Unfortunately this did not help to get Callum back on the straight and narrow, and his relationship with his parents is very fraught and he no longer lives at home. I realised a long time ago that my grandson was a very tense wound up personality, always close to tears, and he had been bullied at school. When he started to realise that cannabis could ease his anxiety he went for it like a ton of bricks and this has caused his rift with the family. He has also been diagnosed with Aspergers, and will not seek medical help, relying on the drugs, and doing all sorts of anti social activities to get the money to buy it. This is the household that I came to see at the end of this June. I had not seen my girl in person for a whole six years and it was marvelous to hug and hold her again, and to see Caitlin so grown up at 11* The weather at first was hot and wonderfully relaxing as I sat and read on their back deck overlooking the gardens and the fields in the distance. [It is so irritating that I am unable to put pictures into this as I keep getting error notice, so I will have to try another time]. Because I had already done all the touristy things before, I just lived the lives that my kids did there and met all their friends, visited the town and did some shopping... visited more friends to have meals with and generally had such a relaxing time that I was able to read..12 books, full length ones at that!! Never before have I had such a book fest!! The weather became rather annoying with rain and storms, interspersed with the hot sunny days, but I was there to relax and that is all that I did do... We made bread together by hand, and a wonderful reubarb crumble pie and lots of other delicious things to eat... My girl is a great cook also, but her husband being so english, he doesnt like the experiment, just preferring plain meat and two vegs!! The 2 weeks passed so fast, and I got to see Caitlin and her friends playing volley ball on the beach, saw Canada day festivities which were very lovely to see.. To know how proud the Canadians are of being canadian, unlike here in UK where we seem afraid to say we are English... so all in all I loved my visit. I would buy a house to live there in a heartbeat* I also caught up with a friend that I have been in touch with since 1963, and the last time we met was on my last visit.. So we all went out for a meal, and we didnt stop talking all night! We never run out of things to chat about, and with Gaby with me, and Joe her brother who drove my friend to our rendevous, the evening passed in a flash. I hope I get back again to see them all very soon, and not leave it another several years again... The whole trip left me so relaxed and ready to cope with the lumpectomy that I had done less than a week after my return from my holiday...