Returning to Moose Jaw was and is about reconnection—to the land, the family left behind when my parents moved us to B.C., and the family I didn’t know I had until I reunited with my birth family many years later.
It’s about nourishing roots and encouraging new growth. It’s about remembering and learning—unlearning, too. For me, returning to Moose Jaw is a return to my self.
A visit with my Moose Jaw cousins, neither of whom has lived here in many years, but who came to visit yesterday was pure delight. We lost touch after my parents died, and haven’t seen one another in 40-ish years. We had a few things to catch up on!
Sitting around talking about the past (“Whatever happened to so-and-so? “, “Did you know about . . . ?”, “Do you remember . . . ?”) and the paths our lives have taken over the years with them was pure gold. The best part is that now that we’re reconnected, we plan to remain that way.
I was fortunate to have many cousins within 10 mile radius of our farm. Family get-togethers were huge. Most of them were held in the orchard on our farm. We played hide-n-go-seek in the corn field (much to Daddy’s dismay), tag, foot races and biked all over our dirt roads. So much fun. Today we keep up on Facebook. Yes, cousins allowed for a rich layer of memories to my life.