Never thought this would happen again!

 Well, it has finally happened. After so many months and years of being penned up in our own house, in our own town, in our own province, Mario and I are finally getting out. Like a self-imposed house arrest situation, we have kept to our own bubble, hoping to protect ourselves and others, but it has been a very difficult last year on both of us. Too much work, not enough time off, and our ability to constantly go, go, go, has turned us into two very tired people. 

And I know what some of you may thinking - this is not essential travel, you are putting yourselves and others at risk, you shouldn't be travelling. My answer? This trip is essential to us. On a besoin de décrocher - we need to unhook ourselves from this busy life for a few weeks, change our mindsets, heal our mental and physical health a little, to be able to do it all again when we get home, and who knows for how long. 

So as I sit here in the completely empty Air Transat area of the Montreal Trudeau airport (have to remind myself, it's been so long!), listening to the lilting melody of a far-of piano, I want to say thank you. Thank you to all of you who we've visited with in the past few weeks, part of cookie drop-offs and front porch greetings, who have supported our decision to fly, who have not criticized us for going anyways, who are all excited at the prospect to follow along, be it through Mario's Facebook posts or my ramblings. Knowing that you are behind us in this decision have made the weeks of stress leading up to this moment just a little more bearable.

 And when we raise that first sweet drink of Guadeloupe rum and guava juice to our lips, we will first toast to all of you, wishing you a very Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year, and all the health and happiness in the world for 2022, because really, it's all we really need right now.