Sitting here on Christmas Eve, it occurs to me that Christmas will for me be forever linked to northern climes. Christmas in the Dominican Republic a few years ago was odd, but spending it with family made it seem a bit more like home. Now I am going to be spending the most significant holiday of the year with a group of people that I will most likely never see again. The sense of community is understandably stilted, especially for me as I have been here the least amount of time and will be leaving the soonest. And, to make it even more surreal, there is a chance of sunburn on the beach instead of the annual frostbite that attends marathon hockey games in subzero temperatures.
Eventually you start taking steps away from the family hearth, but it is difficult to imagine what each step will result in. Sometimes the step is forced through circumstance, while other times it is carefully analyzed as closely as possible before being taken. This step, the first Christmas away from home, was willfully taken, so I hope this doesn’t come across as some sort of forlorn monologue from Madagascar. It was worth it to come, to have this experience, but with each moment spent doing one thing, you miss the opportunity to involve yourself somewhere else. The opportunity cost of scuba diving in Madagascar is difficult to calculate, especially since the other opportunity isn’t just Christmas in Fort McMurray - everywhere that I am not is what I'm missing. There are a myriad of places and experiences that I cannot indulge in because I am here, but it’s difficult to miss what you don’t know, so instead I am keenly missing home.
Have a Merry Christmas – I will too, plus a deep tan.
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3 comments:
We miss you too, our son! Lots of love winging its way to you across the globe from the land of ice and snow to your sun drenched strip of Malagasy beach! Let the breeze be our hugs and the ocean spray our kisses!
Love mom and dad and jordache
Merry Christmas Justin! Your family is coming over tonight for christmas dinner, make sure you make up for the lack of hockey with some serious beach time to get your tan on!
I miss ya too cousin!! Keep blogging and writing. Hopefully that helps you reflect on what is truley precious in life. It seems to be very evident, that home is a special place, most of all because of the ppl. Missed you on the ice with your fancy moves, around the table playing games with your whitty humour and as you sit at the "kids" table slowing eating stuffing & the works, while everyone else is falling off their chairs from eating too fast. HUG!
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