Should I stay or should I go now?

Reader asks....

Not that it's any of my business but I do ask myself why you would move to Rankin if it's so important to be at every family function and see everybody regularly.


Dear reader:

I am not going to pretend I know anything about you, and your family. Because I don't. But I am compelled to assume by your question and the way you worded it that you and I weigh certain values differently.

I come from a small family. I have one sister, and there's my mom and dad. My dad's side of the family is quite large, but I'm not super-close with any of them. My mom's side of the family is very small, just her parents and a half-brother. I have just those two grandparents left, and they mean a lot to me.

I also have just a handful of really close friends. One who I've known since Jr. High school, and two who I lived with for four years. Live with two people for that long, and they become your family too.

These people, these nine people, mean the world to me.

So why would I move to Rankin Inlet if it meant so much to be a part of their lives?

Well, I'm young and I just entered the "job market" so maybe part of it was naivety that time off would be more plentiful (not that the time off we get is UNFAIR). Or maybe I thought the distance between Winnipeg and PEI was shorter. And cheaper. Or maybe I just saw my move to the north as an adventure, and a temporary one at that.

I think people generally move for one of two reasons. To GO somewhere, or to LEAVE somewhere. I had no real desire to LEAVE Quebec. I liked my little apartment, I liked my little job, I liked my little guinea pig, I liked my little couch - the first REAL piece of furniture I had ever bought. But this was an opportunity. So I took it. And in doing so, left some really important pieces of me behind: those nine people (oh, and that couch haha).

So I miss them. And I want to be with them, and I want to experience their highs (graduations, new jobs, long-overdue acceptances into dream grad programs) and lows (surgeries, injuries, heartbreaks) with them. But I can't have everything, and I've acknowledged that.

But that does leave me sad at times. And it leaves me feeling out of the loop. And it leaves me trying to fit everything into short bursts of vacation. But I have to remember that my life here is temporary - I just hope I don't miss too much and regret it.

So reader, I hope this answers your question. And maybe you still don't understand. But I think there are many people up here, who have moved far away from their family and friends to an alien environment who DO get it, and who feel the way I do. And we share an understanding that maybe you and I will never share.

Thank you for your question.