On this Family Day Weekend in beautiful British Columbia, I am burrowed in my airy, bright Coquitlam apartment, spending a much-needed “not-going-anywhere day” with a delicious new read, Yann Martel’s The High Mountains of Portugal. Ever since the remarkable Life of Pi, I have been a Martel fan, not only because of his unique brand of almost surreal storytelling, but also because he seems to unpack the human condition in such a way that you think he can see inside your head and heart. I am only 60 pages in and I have found a passage that speaks to me on this weekend for celebrating family. Tomas, the lead character, is missing his home and his family when he reflects:

“Love is a house with many rooms, this room to feed the love, this one to entertain it, this one to clean it, this one to dress it, this one to allow it to rest, and each of these rooms can also just as well be the room for laughing or the room for listening or the room for telling one’s secrets or the room for sulking or the room for apologizing or the room for intimate togetherness, and, of course, there are the rooms for the new members of the house-hold. Love is a house in which plumbing brings bubbly new emotions every morning, and sewers flush out disputes, and bright windows open up to admit the fresh air of renewed goodwill. Love is a house with an unshakeable foundation and an indestructible roof.”

Reading this passage today, I am reminded that my home, my family, IS indeed like a house. One that moves with me wherever I go. It also reminded me just how grateful I am to have a dear family to surround me with love, even across the miles of prairies, mountains and right down to the Pacific ocean.

On this Family Day weekend, I want to send a virtual bouquet of my most favourite flowers, tulips, to my sister Jen, to thank her for taking such good care of our Mum, even though her hectic life as a nurse, Mum, and wife keeps her so busy each day. Through much-needed photos, videos and phone calls, Jen shares Mum’s life with me each week so I don’t miss her, or my family, quite so much. My house if full of love, and I am grateful!

Whether Family Day is this weekend for you, or next, may you share time with the ones you love and celebrate the “unshakeable foundation and indestructible roof” that is your family. Happy Family Day from The Vagabond Photographer!