For Change Sake

"Nothing is as constant as change."  Not my words, but ones so very very true.  How about this one - "A change is as good as a rest."  Again, not mine, but I sure believe in its message.  Now when you combine the message in these expressions with one of my all time favourites, then we've really have something prophetically profound.  "If you've got an itch.....scratch it."

Ten years ago, that exactly what I did.  Lynda and I were living in Burlington, Ontario.  Kendall and Avery were three and one years of age and went to a wonderful lady's house whenever we trotted off to our jobs. We all resided in our quaint little bungalow, in an established area of the city, with massive oak and maple trees lining our peaceful suburbia.  After being there for 8 years, we had formed great relationships with many of our neighbours too, with a lot of them becoming more like family than merely just friends.  We had a pool.  The weather in Burlington is ranked as being near the top for the entire country.  We loved the warm summers and short winters.  Lynda also loved her job.  As for me, I was no longer working the dreaded weekend and night shifts and had settled into a Monday to Friday day job as an investigator of white collar crimes for the RCMP.  Not much of a requirement to wear my bullet proof vest in that gig, albeit the paper cuts were brutal.  At least they were until my fingers toughened up.  Perhaps I should have used the puncture resistant gloves that I had dawned so often whenever I was searching the person, vehicle, or anything to do with a suspected drug trafficker.  Oh well, hindsight is 20-20.  (No, again, not my expression!  I need to work on being more original.)  I certainly can't forget Doug and Dallas.  Our dearest friends and soul mates.  Transplanted Newfies too, they lived not too far away and we could usually be found together, doing some of the "funnest" stuff and making memories to last a lifetime.

By any measurement, my life was pretty good a decade ago.  I could have easily convinced the RCMP to leave me in the Greater Toronto Area for the remainder of my career, so no one was likely to force us to leave the home that I had lived in longer than any other during my entire life.  No one, that is, except me.

I still don't know what exactly it was that caused my itch.  I just knew that I needed a change and that my family did too.  Perhaps it was dad's death a few months earlier.  That is the most likely candidate.  I spent a few weeks back home during dad's final days and after he died.  I left Newfoundland in 1989 and this was the longest time that I had spent back there since.  When I returned to life in Ontario, I developed a yearning to go home.  It seems that no matter how long they are away, transplanted Newfoundlanders always call the place home.  Lynda needed some convincing, quite a bit actually.  Eventually she came on board and I was able to call in a few favours and by the summer of 2004, we all had relocated back to the island.

Today, we have a wonderful house, with a view of the ocean to die for.  We live in the woods.  There is lots of privacy and we enjoy doing so many outdoor activities that come with being nestled in our quaint little town.  The kids are 13 and 11 and this is the only home that they remember.  They love it here.  My mom lives with us.  She has her little apartment downstairs and she is the glue that bonds us all.  Her baking is pretty good too.  We have great neighbours and have watched families grow and prosper during the last 10 years.  Lynda has worked at the same company for the last eight years and enjoys the challenges but welcomes the flexibility the job provides so she can partake in the kids' activities.  I'm no longer in the RCMP, having burned the candle at both ends for too many years, my mind and body told me it was time to leave.  I have tinkered at several jobs but because I haven't jumped back into the workforce entirely.  This has afforded me with the opportunity to spend so much more time with Kendall and Avery.  I am blessed to have had this opportunity and it's my most treasured gift.  As for the weather here.....it sucks.

So guess what?  My itch has returned.  Change is in the wind.  I don't know what yet, nor do I know where. I just know that it is very likely that a year or two from now, things will be very different for me and my family.  I'll take my time, think it through, and consult Lynda constantly, so that we make the best decision possible.  It's just like when you go on the city bus and the driver says..."Correct change only."

As for my life so far, I wouldn't change a thing.