I am a friend, and a daughter too

May 2, 2010

I'm away right now having a girls' weekend with my mom. This is the first time in 11 years of motherhood that I've taken time for retreat, rejuvenation and fun separate from my family.

I took the bus from where I live in Maine to meet her in St. Andrews, New Brunswick, a sweet little spot roughly halfway between my home and hers in Nova Scotia.

We are enjoying the hospitality of my parents' friends who live on a cove of Passamaquoddy Bay. No pictures to post yet (though I've taken hundreds). The photo of me was taken last weekend by Laurent while I was drinking my morning coffee. I suppose I shouldn't think about last weekend too much or I might start missing my family...

No worries about that though because in a very real sense I am with family. I'm with my mother after all! But she's so much more than that, she's my best girl friend. And in our short time together we've had hours of uninterrupted conversation (no "Nana" or "Mommy" needing our response), many laughs and a few tears.

We've caught up on recent books we've read, gone walking for hours in the beautiful nature surrounding us here, done a wee bit of local shopping, shared green smoothies and recipes (my mom's studying to be Registered Holistic Nutritionist) .

It's such a wonderful treat to have this time to focus on being a friend and a daughter.