Hello dearest Reader,
A month flew by since I last wrote to you. And I thought it’s time to pen down my realisation from the phase just crossed. I call it in-between and I’d tell you why. The last month was the time in between dropping my child to college and getting back to my life. It was the time spent in between two cities, New York and Toronto. It was the time where I spent time with my home team and that of others. It was time spent between two friends of different age and from different phases of my life staying in two different cities. It was also the time where a part of me irrevocably changed and shifted. A change that I had known would come but never anticipated how it’d turn out to be.
So let me tell you the stories from my “in between” days. I left Savannah where I dropped my not so little boy to start his undergrad days and flew to the Big Apple. My office HQ is based out of NYC and I spent a week rushing between meetings, forging connections and collecting meaningful intels to better my processes back home. I was taken care off and after a year in this organisation felt at home as I mingled with teammates, seniors and peers. A year back in this same office I had forged a relationship with a girl I barely knew. And the work relationship was not one which was run off the mill. My team was to take on the work which her team was doing. As a consultant her team was moving out as my team was being set. It could have been an uncomfortable relationship. Forget friendship, we could have harboured bitterness and sense of competition as the transition took place. But this girl blew my mind. I have never met a kinder soul. A thorough professional she eased my transition process like a pro. Not only that, she ensured a week old newbie in the system finds her way around. The warmth and the welcome I received from her taught me a few things about life. Goodness has no limits if someone is bent on being good. So a girl who was way younger than me, worked with me for barely three months and in a situation which probably was not too pleasant for her professionally, became friend for life. We kept in touch throughout the last year and this time when I was in NYC, Falon took me out for dinner. We chatted like souls which had a connect over lifetimes. We shared heart breaks and career dreams, family dramas and life aspirations and time flew by faster than I liked. You may call me naive but I do believe in the magic called life. Falon for sure is part of that magic. A person you’ve barely known being such a good friend, like you’ve known her forever is nothing short of a miracle. I will not get into the details of the awesome pasta we savoured and the truffle fries, but when we walked back she showed me the writing on the footpath (see the pic). Seems every summer an unknown artist writes these beautiful quotes on the pathways. Those words are what Falon is all about.
My next stop was Toronto and the city was my first time visit. I did the touristy stuff of going to the Niagara Falls. The day tour had a lot thrown in for a bunch of multinational tourists. And I doubt if ever there was a sweeter and funnier tour guide than Jhonny. He made us laugh and entertained us as we drove past the scenic countryside. Our first stop was a vineyard where we saw wine making. I don’t drink anymore hence had to indulge myself by only watching the rest taking a sip. Then we went to a vintage car show and I loved strolling between the classics under the sunny sky. We took photos of the famous Flower clock and stopped by Niagara on the lake to do a maple syrup tasting before driving down to the falls. Niagara is an experience I’d recommend to any first timer. The boat ride to the falls was the best. As the boat twirled around, the water sprayed over us. Everyone on that boat had a smile plastered on their lips. The sheer joy of getting soaked in the misty spray on a boat which rocked like swing was unexplainable. You need to do it to feel it.
But then Toronto was also about work and about Jabeen. Jabeen is a friend from another lifetime. I think we spent working together for four months before she decided to move on to newer opportunities in Canada. I on the other hand continued where I was working then. We kept in touch over the years. Whenever we spoke, it was like there was no time lapse in between. We shared everything under the sun and a friendship forged over the years. Jabeen has made Toronto her home and of course we had to meet. The young fashionable gorgeous Jabeen I had last seen years back remains unchanged. No one would say a decade has passed by. The girl I knew is married now and a new mom with an adorable ten month old. We met for dinner and gorged on sushi and I was invited over to her lovely home where I met baby Arish. I was touched by the warmth of her hearth and her heart. Every one in the family met me for the first time and welcomed me with such warmth that I was humbled. Including baby Arish, whose smile stole my heart. Jabeen decided to pamper me not only with company, food and love but when she heard that I love sushi and want to learn making it, gifted me with a sushi making kit. I must have done some good by some folks in my lifetime to be blessed by such friends. As I walked back to my hotel, the shimmering Toronto taught me a few lessons on friendships. And like I said I believe in soul connects, I believe in lifetimes more than one. Else there’s no reason that two girls who barely knew me and spent so little time with me staying in two different cities would go out of their way to melt the cockles of my heart.
As I flew past the clouds on my flight back home I pondered on the time I left behind and time that’s rushing towards me. I left behind a mother who was needed to nurture and was embracing one who is good to have around for sharing life lessons. From a need to have to a good to have the shift was hard hitting . I left behind a woman who was juggling profession with her home, and stepped into the skin of a career focused person. I left behind a woman who had always been surrounded by folks since the day she got married to her man, and was stepping into a life where she would have to live with her husband alone. This was happening for the first time in twenty years. I realised, I can survive the change. I realised I have spent four decades and more on this earth. I realised I have family all across the world who cares. I realised I have meaningful friendships. I realised I have health which still sustains me. I realised that loving someone doesn’t always need reciprocation. I realised I can deck up for myself and enjoy my time alone. I realised it’s good to be back home like it is to run away from it. The in-between time taught me a lot.
So to all my readers, pause in between. If you can spend some quiet time, you will find yourself. Between the roles you play, you’ll know the true you. Wishing you all many in-betweens in your life. May you find yourself. Gorgeous and ever wise.
Always yours,
Pocket full of life
