Beautiful Goodbye

Well, the time has finally come to say good-bye! I can't believe that I have kept this blog up for two years, and I hope that if anything, it was at least semi interesting to read! We are now "settling" back into life in Canada. The adjustment has actually been anything but easy. Lots of frustration, transitioning and tears, and I still feel pretty lost at times. Our summer travelling Europe helped us detach a little, but we did return to Cayman for one last week on the beach. What a difference it was to finally feel like a tourist, to get to sip sweet rum punch in the sun during a week day! Boy did we really miss out by working so much. We celebrated our second anniversary on our last night in Cayman. After the island presented us with one last gift; a sunset that felt appropriate in its beauty and moodiness, we dined at Hemingways on the beach. A beach walk under the dark starry sky topped off the wonderful night. It was just as hard as I had imagined to say good-bye to our little paradise. So many amazing memories, laughs, friends and experiences. It feels like we both lived a short lifetime during those 20 months, and that we are coming back to Canada changed from the experience. Not only did we grow, but our marriage did too. I still hold a hope that we will one day make it back to Cayman, maybe with our children, and re-live the glory days. Our wonderful life can really be attributed to the strong friendships we made while we were there, and the kind, generous and welcoming people we met. I will look back at the experience with such a bittersweet feeling, because for all of the joy we had living there, it made leaving so difficult. Like a wise man once said "The past should be a guide post, not a hitching post," and so it is onto the new chapter, which I am confident will be just as exciting and adventurous as the last one. Thank you all for sharing in our adventures, and keep in touch!!! Love Blake and Natalie