Back to Holland, back to family

Arriving in Amsterdam I was met by my cousin's partner, Gregor. He is a lovely guy who packed me into his equally lovely car and took me back to their apartment.

It is huge; and not just by Amsterdam standards (not that I know what those are, but I can imagine they aren't big). It is bright, airy, and delightful. As Gregor worked for a bit, I plopped myself out on the balcony for a bit of a lazy retreat. Sunshine on my toes, reading my book, listening to the sounds of the neighbourhood. Life is pretty grand!

Yesterday, I had a call from a good friend of mine back in Canada. Alfred and I have worked together for many years at Rogers, so he was able to catch me up on some resent happenings at the office. Looks like the more things change, the more they stay the same. Thankfully, I have not been missing work for quite some time. I occasionally miss having some work to do, but that feeling usually passes fairly quickly. Besides, traveling is work. I may not be managing people or partnerships anymore, but I do have to stay on top of transportation, accommodation, finances, and communications everyday.

Sitting on this balcony in Amsterdam I am more and more happy with my decision to take a year off from my Canadian life. I knew if I didn't take this chance this year, I would regret it. And so far, I have no regrets.

Later on once my cousin, Josie, had returned from work we fell into an easy rhythm of chat. She and I have not spent a lot of time together, (in fact we can't remember when the last time we saw each other - could be over 20 years ago), but yet we caught up on things like we had been together only months ago. This is one of the joys of this part of the adventure. I don't have to explain myself from scratch to everyone I meet. Which can be exhausting and limiting. With family there is a baseline of understanding. And in our case, our mother's keep us well in formed about each other's families so when we do connect after years, we can pick up the stories easily. God, love our mother's.

I didn't grow up with much access to my extended family, so I have always been drawn to building a relationship with them. The trouble is we all still live so far apart and contact is still only sporadic. I am excited for this brief chance to catch up on their lives. I may not see much of Amsterdam, but the time will be well spent.

Wow - that sounds stalkerish... I am just happy to be hang with my cuz for a bit!