It’s been, what, 30 years? It’s incredible to think that we’ve been apart that long. Like an echo of a dream that you can’t quite put your finger on. As I look out the window of the Boeing 777 that we departed Toronto over the calm of the Atlantic, my mind races from question to question. What’s my family going to be like? Do the places that haunt my memories still exist? We’re those places just fiction or reality? I guess we’ll find out together.
As I wake and ocean has turned to land, I’m noticeably nervous and know that we are close to landing. While me being anxiously nervous is nothing new, this time it’s different. It’s a nervousness filled with excitement. Excitement to see my family again, to again see the land my parents grew up on, to breathe in the sights, smells and tastes I hope still exist, and to make old relationships new again.
While I usually like to photoment (photo + document?) my way through a trip, this time I was a bit more reserved. I want to be more present and less behind a lens. So come along with me as I relive a past life and rekindle a lost love. Come along with me to.... Greece!
Wow that intro was super corny. Try rereading it in a David Attenborough voice though and it probably would be the opening voice-over to a BBC adventure docu-series. In fact, read this entire post in that voice will you? That might make it more interesting than it actually is (no need to comment on that).
As the city scape turns to mountainous terrain, full on excitement has replaced the nervousness that initially encapsulated my mind and as we pull into the driveway of my mothers childhood home, a final thought ravages my mind; what took you so long?
Walking along the same streets my mother ran down when she was a child and the streets I ran 30 years ago, that dream of a previous life is coming back into focus. Visual queues are becoming more familiar. Certain tastes and smells as I stop for lunch are bringing back clues to a past long forgotten.