For the MOC10 Jan 26 challenge to do a tribute or remembrance layout, I chose to write about my trip to Moose Jaw. The journaling explains why (in 330 words):
"The trip of a lifetime: Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan!
It sounds funny to most people, so much so that it took me over 40 years between the moment that caused the dream and the time I finally made it there.
I am from France, my whole family lives there and that’s where I spent all the childhood I remember and all my formative years. But because I am a military brat, and because my Dad accepted a NATO exchange position between the French and Canadian Air Forces, I was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. I spent the first 2 and a half years of my life there and remember nothing. My whole family visited us while we lived there and have some memories and souvenirs, as does my sister who, being much older, remembers her 4 years there.
So growing up, it was a strange identity defining dichotomy for me to have been born in Canada and have dual citizenship, and yet having no memory of it and no sense of the landscapes, the culture, the cuisine, the people.
When I moved back to Canada at 20 years old, the plan was always to go visit Moose Jaw. But Canada is big, and plane tickets are expensive, and it’s hard to convince your friends and even your husband that we should take a trip to a small town in Saskatchewan. For many years, we chose Disney World, all inclusive resorts on the beach or European cities. But as part of my 40th birthday we finally made good use of some of our Aeroplan points to take a 4 day escapade to Moose Jaw, the friendly city!
So this moment of arriving from Regina is momentous for me. This is one of the happiest moments of my life. Of course, I had to stop along the highway to take photos with the welcome sign, and one of arriving in town and seeing Main Street, which my parents had talked about so often."
Done with
Magic Moments: Exploring Canada Whatnots,
Magic Moments: Exploring Canada Whimsies,
Magic Moments: Exploring Canada Itty Bits,
Magic Moments: Exploring Canada Papers,
Take A Hike Collection Flannel Season Bundle and
Magic Moments: Frontier Tales Double Take Papers by Bella Gypsy Designs and the
O Canada templates by Scrapping With Liz.
