musing ...

Sometimes it takes having visitors from away to make you open your eyes and appreciate where you live and all you have to be thankful for.

Our nephew from England and his partner just left after a two week visit with us. He is in the British Army and has been stationed in Cypress for the last two years. She is a nurse in the Royal Air Force and has just returned from three months in Afghanistan. He has seen war in Afghanistan twice, Iraq, Bosnia and Northern Ireland.

You'd think seeing that much evil would make a person cynical, yet he is a gentle, sensitive person ... and one can't help but wonder how he has survived what he must certainly have seen and experienced over the last twenty years of his life. He hasn't hidden from army life as he has had a very successful career, and been promoted to a high rank - not to mention head-hunted for the Canadian military.

That is what is bringing them to Canada. A new position with our own military forces. Having lived all over the world, they have decided (like thousands before them) that Canada offers them the best chance of a stable and happy life. Watching them excitedly house-hunting, and seeing where I live through their eyes has made me look again at the 'riches' of my own life.

It also reminds me of the resilience of the human spirit. That one can fight evil but not become evil, witness destruction but not become destructive ... that a good heart is it's own protection.

They'll make wonderful new citizens of our country.