If You Don't Like Sappy...

don't lick spruce trees.

This is my post-TOI sentimental moment. A little different than my Saturday evening attempt at a sentimental moment. :-) And I don't consider myself an emotional person, but I can't hold this in.

I think this weekend really changed me. Really.

I went to Toronto thinking the weekend would be fun, but I was surprised at what it turned out to be. I spent the weekend with amazing, warm, accepting, vibrant females - something I don't have the chance to do often on such a grand scale. Any future opportunities to do so will not soon be passing me by.

Over the years my friends have thinned out as we've gone about living our lives, and I'm lonely sometimes thinking about it, and I'm sure a lot of us can relate. I can't feel the same kind of lonely today. I have a lot of new friends who feel my oldest friends. I cry thinking about it - I've teared up so many times today. Before this weekend, I didn't feel like I had a lot of close friends, but now I feel like I have a lot of great friends just within reach. I'm really sad that we can't be geographically close everyday, but that will make the times we'll see each other that much more special.

Knowing each of you online has been a real pleasure, if not a daily adventure, but meeting each of you in person has changed everything. The virtual personalities I interact with everyday have turned into vibrant women that I can now picture in my mind, and your typed words can now be matched with your expressions and mannerisms.

This weekend has renewed my faith in myself a bit too I think. I conquered a physical and psychological challenges in my two day trip. There were people climbing those stairs, young and old, all individuals from any kind of background, all striving to achieve the same goal. That's what life is about.

Now I'm ready to move on to the next challenge. I'm going to try to challenge myself more often, daily even, and I'm not going to settle for laziness or apathy quite so easily.

To the women of Toronto: I have no way to express my gratitude and appreciation to all of you, but I'll keep trying to for a long time. You made an insecure small-town girl feel at home in one of the largest cities in the world. You opened your arms to a complete stranger and gave me a warm hug that I still feel as I sit here typing this.

I left little pieces of my heart in Toronto. I brought pieces of you home with me to replace what I left.