No Place Like Home

They say home is where the heart is, but I am never certain exactly what that is supposed to mean. Is it simply wherever one feels most comfortable and secure, regardless the physical location? Is it supposed to be the place and home wherever one’s romantic love happens to be? Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco and talks about a love waiting for him there…but references fog, cable cars, and golden sunshine. Such a conundrum to figure this out and to be truthful without causing offense. 🤔 Unless a person has lived in other places, they are unlikely to truly understand how challenging it is to know where one’s heart and home really is. And I don’t mean visiting or staying in other places, but actually living in other places other than one's home province.

• 

• 

• 

• 

People who know me and my story well know I have had a pretty nomadic life. I started out living in Alberta, but have also lived in the NWT, British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Manitoba…plus a brief stint in Naples, Florida. Many who kept in contact with me over the decades, especially in my adult life, had to update their address books on a pretty regular basis. I am sure many are glad we now have digital contact lists to store and update data…and now AI can help highlight when there are changes and, sometimes, help do them automatically. But even when I was in one city for 18 years, which was Vancouver, I ended up with eight different addresses for various reasons. Fortunately my phone numbers and personal email remained the same (my email still is!).

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

But for all the places in the world I have lived and traveled, there is only one place where I truly feel I am at home…and that is Vancouver. It is not a perfect place, by any means - it has its share of social challenges and it is expensive. But it welcomes diversity and people are free to be who they are, wear what they like, speak in their preferred language, and to just live. It was where I felt safe enough to go through the coming out process and, although I am not a huge flag waver, it’s the place where I was comfortable to be myself and connect with people of like values and interests. To this day, most of my dearest and longest standing friends are in Vancouver, with a few elsewhere across the country. This includes a classmate from UofA Nursing Grad ‘94 (we both got our post-diploma nursing degrees there) and colleagues from VGH’s cardiac surgery ICU where I worked when I first moved to Vancouver in February 1994.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

More than just somewhere I can be myself and where the majority of my social network is, Vancouver provides me with a connection with nature I have not found since leaving the farm. It has waterfront, be it the beaches or the seawall, that I find so incredibly calming. I can walk for hours on the seawall, saunter onto the tidal flats at Spanish Banks at low tide, or simply sit on a log (or bench) at English Bay to watch ships at anchor or the sunset. I can disappear into Stanley Park amongst the old growth trees, circle Beaver Lake, and take in the vista at Third Beach or Prospect Point leaving the bustle and noise of the city behind. Rain or shine, I can be outdoors almost any day of the year without worrying about extreme cold and frostbite or extreme heat. OK, so Vancouver did try to kill me once…but only succeeded in “breaking” my back with a freak incidence of rare black ice. We have since kissed and made up…I forgive you, YVR!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

I never tire of flying into Vancouver - the welcome from mountains and the coast always seems like a big hug 🤗 And now, with the flexibility of “retirement”, supportive understanding of a fabulous spouse, plus tons of Aeroplan points and perks, I am able to escape more frequently to what truly is home to me. Until this year, the trick has been planning trips to Vancouver on tight vacation time slots and trying to pack in as many people as possible. To be honest, it was often extremely exhausting - I usually left more tired than when I arrived! And as many people as I/we packed in there were many who we would miss with promises to connect next time. So, already this year has been a banner year with already three treks to Vancouver and I will aim to be back at least twice more before the end of 2026. The first trip in February was really just part of my retirement transition and getting reacquainted with my old stomping grounds. The second was arriving on a repositioning cruise in May that coincided with my last professional gig to help run and present at a conference. And the last in July was to housesit for a friend and to just hang out.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

When I go to Vancouver I can easily put on 20,000 steps per day…often I exceed that. So I usually get a ton of exercise without even thinking much about it. As it turned out my Fitness World membership is still valid, so the gym can be an option to fill time whenever I am back. There is so much to see and do, besides socializing with all my peeps. The two coffee shops I first went to in 1994, Melriches and Delaney’s, are still my go to spots to meet peeps, to write, and people watch. There is Granville Island, Denman Street, Yaletown, Coal Harbour, and a multitude of other spots to visit. And tons of green spaces to explore besides Stanley Park but also the perpetual beauty of the mountains to the north where there are opportunities for hiking and exploring outside of the city (if the seawall and English Bay palm trees are not enough). And back to the diversity of Vancouver…there is no shortage of cultural events, music, arts, and food to enjoy. There is such a richness of heritages, languages, and religions…none of which are overtly legislated against. Of course there are pockets of racism, bigotry, and homophobia in Vancouver but rare are there extreme incidents that compromise my sense of security.

Did I mention I ❤️ YVR? It really is where my heart and home is because of the love, security, and deep emotional connection I feel with it. Those feelings and the welcome I have always experienced in Vancouver have been with me since 1994 and have not been fully replicated elsewhere (although a couple other places have great potential). For now, I shall content myself with having a home where my romantic love is because that is extremely important and worth more than my heart’s current geographical address. But Vancouver has plenty of room for hearts, so maybe one day we can both experience a place where both our hearts and homes can together be.