Banking on Memories

For over a decade, I have had a financial relationship with (let’s call her) Natalie. As you are probably aware, having any kind of long term relationship with someone in a bank is a rarity these days. Workers are prone to and often encouraged to switch branch locations, and even cities to jump start their careers. You start to feel some trust and quickly they are gone.

Natalie and I met so far back, I don’t quite remember the circumstance. However, I know that I immediately felt that this was someone who would return my phone calls/emails, and provide me with solid guidance. I knew that I could turn to her when my marriage ended and I needed to move forward in my planning.

Over the years, we learned a little more about each other, about our growing children and our new residences. We had however, never spoken about where we had each grown up. And each time we met I thought, Natalie is someone who knows her stuff, everyone should have a Natalie!

In my most recent appointment to meet Natalie, she mentioned that she had noticed a particular government id number that is specific to a province in Canada. It seems that Natalie had grown up there too. Did you go to John Rennie High School? Then the questions flowed and we were able to discover that Natalie and I lived within blocks of each other as children/teenagers, hung out at the same community swimming pool and knew some people in common. All this in a small sub-division, in a large city some 3500+ kilometers away (depending on whether you take the “scenic” route north above the Lakes or dip south through the US) on the other side of the country. A city that I left 36 years ago.

Blessings to All and to All a Goodnight

In the next few days, there will be a lot happening at your local church. For those who attend regularly, the familiar will call you back. The soft light, the smell of candles, greens and flowers and the music always speak to us. 

There will also be infrequent visitors, those who will be there to honour someone who has recently left their life (“Mum would have loved this”) or because of someone who has entered it. We will step into something new and make it our own because of love. We will marvel at how our lives have melded and meshed in seamless unison.

We will pull out our traditions like tangled garland and lights and enjoy them because they are ours. We will smile in realizing the good things and weep at our memories of last Christmas, of what has sadly changed, and for what hasn’t, sadly.

We will immerse ourselves in the way “we have always done things” and relax into its comfortable arms, like a heartfelt hug that we have been waiting for all day. We will pull out old dishes and cook meals that we grew up with and once again exclaim at how wonderful they are or how we have improved them!

When the 25^th is at our doorstep, you might worship within four enclosed walls or choose to worship in wide-open spaces. But we ALL have huge wishes and tantalizing dreams even though we may hide them daily in quite efficient ways.

This Christmas, set your wishes free and let the Season be a magical time for you, never forgetting and with gratitude the amazing things that have transpired during this year.

Whoever you are and wherever you are – may you be blessed by the God you know, may you feel the calm and abundance that your heart craves, may you be surrounded by those you love and those that say they "love you more”.

I wish for you a heart that is open to all the joy and wonder of this Christmas Season.

November in Pte. Claire

step into the golden
crunch beneath my feet

reach the past
with mistaken turns
down roads unwinding.

reach the past
memories falling from nowhere
unbid but oh so clear

reach the past
through dark spaces
hidden in corners.

There they are!
like puddles with floating leaves
reached into the past
wound around familiar places
and touched
the me
I used to be.