Bittersweet Reality

Last week was one of both supreme joy and utmost sadness for me. Cheerful if not downright great because my sister came up for a visit. In commemoration of her sojourn we decided to rent a vehicle and drive to Ottawa, visiting the acquaintances that we had made there. This worked out quite well and in the favour of all due to the fact that Ottawa was one of the only places in Ontario that still had snow. Coming from the Bahamas she only wanted to see snow, hilarious but quite in character with many of my family members' curiosity about snow. She claims that that was all my five year old niece wanted for her to bring back from Canada for her.
After arriving in Ottawa we discovered that our compatriots were preparing for a cultural fest called Soca versus Reggae and of course we were invited to tag along. Being from the Bahamas we were exposed to both genre's of music. Soca being a Trinidadian art form and Reggae the Jamaican counterpart. The unanimous decision amongst us all was to represent and dress in our aquamarine, gold and black. The irony being our colours stood out more than any other! We represented well!
After leaving Ottawa and arriving back in St. Catharines on Monday evening my sister decided she wanted to see Lady Liberty and so once again we took to the hills and embarked on a six hour drive to NYC. This journey took us through 3 states, Upper New York State, Pennsylvannia and New Jersey. We strolled along Canal Street, bought T shirts and took pictures of the construction at ground zero. Then got lost at Jersey State Park while we got the directions to backtrack our jourey and enjoy Lady Liberty as well. It was a bonding experience long overdue and well enjoyed. This climaxed into the St. Patrick's day holiday for us. We returned the six and a half hour drive back to Canada - 3 of those hours in the pitch dark night and following the most dangerous stretch of the journey. God's grace guided my hands on the wheel, kept me focused and my reflexes coiled and prepared for anything that could have came my way.

Sad but true the following day I was to find out about the death of a first year student due to an aneurism. A young girl no more than 19 years old cut down in her prime. This saddened me, yet at the same time made me grateful. I am here to live and hustle for another day. I am truly blessed and possibly even highly favoured.
The reality of life is bittersweet. You have to take the bitter with the sweet, the yin with the yang, the night with the day and the dark with the light. You live the life you love and learn to appreciate the life you live. Thank God for life!!!