Surprise!

Part I

I’m sitting 40,000ft high in the sky watching the endless sea of cloud cover pass me by. My body is still angry at me from all those nights camping at the festival and just one full day after the 6 hour drive home from Manifesting Magic, I climbed aboard West Jet flight 539 from Hamilton, Ontario to Calgary, Alberta. 

Not only was the festival a unique experience for me, it has provided the perfect cover for my surprise arrival at my little sister Maite’s graduation from the University of Calgary. My workshop seemed the only acceptable excuse worthy enough for my big-little-lie that I would not be able to attend. In fact, this event is unmissable for more than just the proud celebration of Maite’s achievement, because my mother and grandmother are also due to land in the Calgary airport a few hours before me. 

The opportunity for family gatherings like these are seldom, generally occurring only at Christmas every other year. My mom moved us kids to Canada in 1996 when I was just 12 years old. The rest of my extended but close family stayed in Guatemala were I was born. By 1999 I was on my own getting shipped around between boarding schools and programs until I was 19... and completely alone in yet another country. (If I’m being vague it’s because opening this pandora’s box spans over a decade of struggle for me and cannot be simply summed up in any reasonably brief way.) What you need to know for this “Meaningful Get-Togethers Resolution” entry is that I’ve spent the last 7 years rebuilding the relationships I lost. Much of it involved simply getting to know who those people are now. The time that passed in my absence and now with my return allowed for so much growth individually and as a family unit. But the physical space between us has only gotten wider forcing all of us to travel farther to be together. Still, I have never had a stronger, more positive and supportive relationship with the 3 main females in my family: grandma (aka Manina), mom, and of course Maite. It is very important to me to continue devote the time and effort necessary to build, develop and strengthen the relationship with the people I love. I hope sooner than later, that will also be true with my brother Dani; until then, I love you bro, and I’ll be here when you’re ready. 

I will be touching down in a few hours where I hope to get secretly whisked away by my mom in preparation for the big surprise! That is all going to be happening very soon and I’m so excited to meet with everyone in my former hometown: Cowtown. I’ll be sharing more on this experience with all of you in Part II coming up soon :)

*** Part II is now online at http://thirteensquared13.blogspot.ca/2013/06/graduation-surprise-part-ii.html