This weekend marks the celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday.  I was born in 1967, a Centiennial baby,  the year Canada turned 100, so this year marks my 50th year as well as Canada’s big year. I figure if I live to be 100, there will be a bit of hoopla- maybe a local politician giving me a photocopied letter from the British Monarchy, but I figure by that time, if I’m still alive and there is still a British monarch, I’ll be tottering about in a nursing home and more interested in the cake than some crummy piece of paper, so  they might as well not bother. To that end, I am taking this year to celebrate my “coming of age” and milking it for all it’s worth, along with my fellow “50 and fabulous friends”. Please excuse  the self indulgence! This milestone birthday was one of the reasons I chose to walk the Camino and the experience was worth every minute! I can’t believe I have been home over a month now, as the memories are still so fresh in my mind. One Camino friend (also turning 50, a day after me, and a fabulous photographer and fellow blogger) quoted another pilgrim, saying that the true journey of the Camino begins when the trip ends and you return home. I have found this to be true. Many people have asked me whether walking the Camino was a life- changing experience- a difficult question to answer. I would say it definitely  felt like it was, but am continuing to process how it has changed me and wonder if those changes are temporary or lasting. I hope to continue to blog about my experiences for a time, as I still feel like a pilgrim, just in a different stage of the journey, now that I am home (and I still love to ramble!) Thanks to those who joined me on my Camino journey- feel free to comment, ask questions, keep following, or sign off!

On a final note, having returned home, I have come to see with fresh eyes the beauty and freedoms we have here in Canada. We aren’t perfect, and still have much work to do and many challenges to overcome when it comes to truth and reconciliation with the Indigenous people of Turtle Island (North America), but for me, there is no country in the world I would rather live in! Proud to be Canadian 🇨🇦

I find it rather amazing in life that some things happen at precisely a moment in time and place,  and have such significance, that it proves that there is a force greater than ourselves, greater than mere coincidence, that accounts for the things that happen in our lives. After almost 40 days away,  this rainbow was the sight that greeted me the moment I awoke when we reached home after being picked up from the airport by our kids. It was the perfect ending to a  soujourn that took me across the ocean and into the deeper parts of myself that were in need of attention. I am still processing the many experiences I had along the way, but can say with certainty that I received what I went for, and have experienced the healing I was seeking. How these changes will manifest themselves in my life is a story yet to be told, but I hope that as I gain insights, I will be able to continue to share them with you. Thank you to those who kept myself and my family in your thoughts and prayers. I also held you close. It is good to be home and see with fresh eyes the beauty of our country Canada, and the love of family and friends. Thanks for following along on my Camino.