Zero to….a Thousand!

I am about to go from zero to….a thousand!

It’s been over a year since I barely left my home, for sure haven’t left my city, and haven’t stepped one foot on to an airplane (and that from someone who was always on the go and always, always on a plane). Next week it all changes.

All being well, I will be flying to the U.S. and Canada for many personal and professional reasons. I miss my two married daughters there and their families, have never met our new granddaughter, and don’t even get me started about my separation from my mother in Toronto….

In order to see my mother, who is in a Jewish assisted living facility, I have to first go into a 14 day quarantine when I arrive in Toronto. Even with that I can only see her once or twice, as professional responsibilities have me then leaving for the U.S. to lead Momentum’s first domestic retreat in Palm Beach, Florida.

There will be many cities on this nine week trip to North America (my husband will join me half way through), and I have a bundle of mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s a long-last reunion with my two girls and mom, on the other hand, I don’t want to leave this new, very small world my husband and I have built for each other this past year.

So many people– including me– were shocked that I not only adjusted to staying in one place, I started loving it. Thanks to technology, I was able to work many time zones, got my husband on a healthy regime, and just when things were getting a little too quiet, our son from Toronto announced he was making aliyah, moved to Israel, and now lives in the separate bachelor apartment on our property. We love that he is with us.

Others have expressed to me that getting back to life means easing in, so I am trying to reframe this more as a “take it day by day” trip, instead of the enormity of what is in front of me.

Now I can relate to the Passover story when the Jews hesitated to go into Israel. They had built for themselves a new reality in the desert, and got… comfortable. The thought of leaving that for the unknown was too much for them. But it was time.

I’ll keep you all posted and will pray for a safe, successful and inspiring trip– Although I do want to go, I already can’t wait to come home.