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| Lady Cove Beach, Newfoundland |
I moved to Ontario when I was nine. My parents came here to provide a better life for me and my two sisters. See, I was born in Newfoundland. Yup, a true Newfie. Both my parents, all my grandparents and everyone before them since my ancestors took that huge leap of faith and crossed the pond from England - born on The Rock.
There's a joke that floats around that goes like this: "How can tell a Newfie in Heaven?....They're the ones that still want to go home." No other statement in all of history could be as true as that.
You're probably asking yourself "Why? What's the appeal". In all honesty I can't answer that question in a way that if you've never experienced it you'll ever understand. There's a pull from your heart and your stomach that never goes away. Sure it may subside a little but then you see a picture, hear a word, or get a wisp of something familiar the pull gets stronger and you'll want to immediately want to drop whatever your doing and go home. Home. It seems funny to say when I've lived here twice as long as did there but that is what it will always be. . . . home.
See the picture at the top of this post? I fell asleep every night to that view when I stayed at my grandparents house. There's nothing more beautiful than a calm sea, a full moon and clear skies.
A few years ago I took my family home.....We packed up the car, headed east, driving for three days. It was a group trip with my mom, step dad, and sister in their car and the four of us in ours. I distinctly remember coming up to the the causeway that attaches Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island. We all had our windows down and my mom calls over the walkie-talkie "Tammy! Can you smell that?". She hadn't noticed my head was already hanging out the window. At that point you smell the ocean. The beautiful Atlantic Ocean! And do you know what the first thing I did a few hours later when we reached the ferry at North Sydney? I grabbed my girls hands and walked them down to the shoreline, took off our shoes, stepped into the coldest water imaginable and told them 'This water runs through your veins'.
Luckily my parents have the opportunity to retire there. They bought a ridiculous amount of land and built their dream house. They just left last week from a visiting us. I miss them which is probably the driving force of this post. Hearing about the cod fishing, boating conditions, the going on's of people I barely or don't even know has made me home sick. But mostly I think the is cause is listening to them talk. My mom never completely lost her accent but I noticed it's stronger now than it's ever been. I lost mine shortly after moving.
You may have a place like this, somewhere your heart pulls you too. You may never have called it 'home' but it's the place where your soul belongs. If you don't, then find it! Newfoundland is where my soul belongs.
I think another road trip is in our future!
Stay Sweet
Tammy
