Ten years ago today, I went on a blind date with a Nova Scotia country boy. He was taking me out to dinner and I remember going down to the beach late in the afternoon to do yoga.
"What on earth am I doing?" I asked the dogs, old Lisa and my Stella. "What will a girl from Ontario and a Nova Scotia country boy have to talk about?"
And we know the answer to that question. We haven't stopped talking since he held the passenger door of his blue Ford Ranger open for me and I settle in for the long drive to the Jade Palace restaurant in Springhill.
Although no one ever thinks to take a photo on their first date (perhaps it happens more often now with cell phones) but we are now sorry there isn't a picture of that special evening. This photo was taken on our second canoe trip when I think it was clear to both of us how this story was going to end.
There's a prequel, you know.
That summer ten years ago, I arrived at our family's summer home in the middle of July, merely taking what turned out to be a month-long break from my caregiving duties, a break before my mother began chemo and radiation.
Going on a date was certainly not a plan; in the previous four summers, no one had ever asked me, no one had even suggested I should go on a date. It was clear that I was in Pugwash to help take care of my father. So the one time I land in there by myself...
Shortly after I arrived, I did the first assignment in a book about creative writing: Flip through magazines and find images and words that reflect "where you are today". I sat at the dining room table, overlooking the fields and the harbour, and created this:
A field guide to my future. Where I was on that day in July 2006 was where I was meant to be. I am very, very grateful that I said Yes with this man named Dwayne called me on Monday afternoon and asked me to go to dinner with him.
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