Winding things up

We're down to our last three days here. I know they will pass in a flash. The phone calls are picking up in intensity and length. It's a funny thing when people call you at these critical life points, just when you are at your busiest, mostly to let you know that they know how busy you must be. Small farewell parties are being planned for our children and their friends. Piles of possessions that must not be left behind are appearing in strategic pockets of the house. Those who have land for sale and who know how badly we'd like to come back here have been putting out a few tentacles, handing over a business card or two. We're in an emotional vacuum at the moment. We're balanced on a knife edge, having ridden the crest of resistance to leaving up to its peak. Yet we're not ready to plunge into the downhill portion of the curve yet --- the one that will sweep us off the coast and back into central Canada. But we know it's coming. Appointments have been made. Lodgings have been booked for the days between our leaving here and our arriving there. And we know it will all be fine. We're leaving here with inestimable strength as a couple and as a family. We all know one another as well as we ever will, and we all love what we see. Most importantly, we have a better understanding of our mission in life, our shared goals and values, and a diamond pointed determination to be true to ourselves, each other, and our planet. I'm not sure how I write this up for the board of governors, but this was a brilliantly successful sabbatical.