Love will never let you down.

Just because something looks like fate, doesn't mean it is. It may just be coincidence dressed up in destiny’s clothes. Alexis McDonald

She's only 23 but her wisdom runs deep. Like a river. Ever flowing towards the sea. "Water doesn't run backwards," she once wrote. And she's right.

Alexis is my eldest daughter. Beautiful. Loving. Wise. Insightful. And oh so talented. She lives a thousand miles away. I miss her. I can't unravel the miles. Can't unravel time either. What I can unravel is the sadness of missing her.

No matter where she is, she is always in my heart. Always part of me. No matter where we are, we are always connected through the Love that surrounds and sets us free to travel through this world without fearing the push of time's need to pull us back to safety. We are at home in each other's hearts, no matter where we are. We don't need time to pull us back to safety. We only need love.

This morning, time is pushing me ever forward to tomorrow when my youngest daughter, Liseanne, leaves for an eight month journey. She's off to the Netherlands for a semester at university and then three months travelling.

Friends keep asking, "How are you handling Liseanne's pending departure. You must be pretty anxious."

"I'm not thinking about when she's gone, yet. I'm focusing on today so that I can enjoy every moment before she goes. I've got lots of time to miss her once she's gone."

And now, time of departure is edging closer. Today, I'm meeting her for a late lunch. We'll do some banking, park her car in the garage for storage. Organize a few things and then chat over lunch about life and living and adventure and all that is transpiring in her life today.

It's pretty exciting. This young woman whose nickname as a child was "Ghee!" because she laughed so gleefully over the tiniest things. This beautiful woman who as a child loved to travel with a hundred stuffed Beanie Babies in the car surrounding her, who on every flight carried her "Polie" where ever she went and who still sleeps with 'Blankie' under her pillow. Who every Easter Sunday when we were in Vancouver, dressed up in Bunnie ears, bought a basket of foil wrapped chocolates and would traipse around Granville Island Market giving away Easter Eggs because she liked the fact she could bring smiles to people's faces. Who at lunch in a restaurant downtown one day, took paper serviettes and created a beautiful headpiece (okay so it wasn't so beautiful and she was egged on by her sister and friend) and then walked down the Avenue in front of us dancing and waving at passers-by, just because she knew it would make them smile. This young woman who when she danced made my heart ache. The gracefulness of her arms. The lissomness of her body. Her fluid motions. She was poetry in motion. A breath of fresh air. A song on the wings of love.

She is going away. Off on an adventure. Off to see the big wide world beyond the borders of her home.

It is a big adventure. She leaves tomorrow at 1:30pm in the afternoon. She's off to learn and grow and leap and soar.

How can I be sad?

I have spent her lifetime building a foundation of love upon which she can stand, no matter where in the world she is.

For no matter where she roams on this great big amazing ball spinning through space, she will always be grounded in the love that roots her in my heart. She will always stand firm on the love that courses through every fibre of her body.

She is a gift. Her flight is a miracle to witness, a beautiful present of life and love and living free.

She leaves tomorrow.


Today, I have time for love and laughter. A couple of tears and lots of smiles. A few more moments to breathe in the incredible essence of this young woman who is strong enough to know, when she shares her beauty and her heart without fear, she has nothing to lose for she is holding onto nothing but Love and Love will never let her down.