Unsent to M

Posted on | April 26, 2012 | 2 Comments

Dear M,

Tomorrow, you are getting on a plane to move to the other side of the country.

To say that you are a best friend is an understatement. To say that you are one of the most important and influential people in my life comes closer to the truth. I’ve written and re-written all the reasons why I’m torn between feeling happy and sad for your departure. The truth is that there are no words. So I will simply say that you are incredible, and one of the happiest people I have ever met. I don’t know how you do it sometimes, but it’s damn infectious.

Do you remember the other day when I emailed you in dismay after taste-testing my second failed attempt at making an edible dinner? I confessed feeling an overwhelming sense of fear that these “failures” were actually a metaphor for other things happening in my life. In response, you said to me:

It is actually kind of cute that you messed dinners up because you’re the cooking queen! I hope you write a blog about it – like the book “everybody poops” it will be “everybody messes up some dishes”

So, M?

This blog post is for you.

Thanks for reminding me that everybody messes up sometimes, and that the best course of action is to laugh about it — and maybe write a blog post about it.

Category: Life

When in Rome

Posted on | April 12, 2012 | 2 Comments

Six years.

That was the first and last time I went to Rome.

I still remember the night I arrived. Tired and a little lonely, I instantly jumped at the chance to explore the city despite everything being closed with some new friends that I made at the hostel I was staying at.

I would find out over the course of several days just how rich the city was in the daylight. I would walk through the famed churches, galleries, and museums that are splashed over every tourist book in existence. I would see countless paintings by master’s with my own eyes and marvel at their work. I would discover how luscious real gelato could taste, and I would never (ever) forgive myself for not trying that rectangular slice of pizza.

And yet… one of my most poignant memories of Rome doesn’t exist within any of my day time travels. The most prominent image that comes to mind when I look back on those days I spent in Rome doesn’t revolve around the time I spent at the Vatican museum where I was surprised to spot a Van Gogh painting, or the Trevi Fountain that I stopped to eat my lunch at (and returned later for that famed gelato). It doesn’t have to do with the Castel Sant’Angelo that I spent hours exploring one afternoon.

One of my favourite images of Rome was captured during that first walk I took on the night I arrived.

There was something about the light shining through those columns that caught me off guard.

There was something about their grandeur that I adored.

There was something about the way the light poured over the stairs and taunted me for not having the courage to explore what lay beyond those columns.