Monday 17 October 2011

This Blog……Life Long Learning…..My Ramblings........ Dedicated to Stan and Laura Hunziger

There were a number of reasons why we decided to host this blog of our journey.  I learned early, as a young child, that I am most excited and most satisfied when my life, my good fortune, my experiences, my possessions, and all that I have, are shared.  I cannot and do not imagine my life evolving in any other way.    I was so blessed many years ago to find a lifelong partner who shares and holds the same belief as close to his heart as I do.   At its infancy, when we considered and talked of this voyage, we found that family members, friends and acquaintances were excited for us. They wanted to know what we were up to; they wanted to know we would be and were safe and they wanted us to keep in touch to share our experiences as we travelled along.
I will admit however, the primary reason to host this blog was somewhat selfish.  I wanted to chronicle this odyssey of ours out of my own need to leave an influential legacy for our children and for those who love them.  I wanted to reassure them that as long as they remain healthy, whatsoever they want in life is attainable, at any age, if they made it happen. They are both adults now; great people who we are very proud of but I guess we still had yet to come to grips with the finality in the process of parenthood.  I have a hard time letting go. I don’t want to.  And yet I need to and must even though the captain and I see our children as the most precious gift we have ever given each other. Parenting them, although rocky in places, has been the most important and rewarding experience we have ever undertaken. I have held on as long as I could and if I must let go, within my soul, it will be kicking and screaming all the way.  But the most influential people in my life, living or departed, would not have that; they would expect a dignified, smooth, warm release which must be honoured.  So my quest was to determine how I was to allow myself the opportunity for that process to come full circle and to solidify my own influence upon it?  I knew it would have to have some meaning for me, it may have some for our kids (if we were lucky) and it may provide the captain and I a tool to look back upon should we accomplish this next odyssey we were about to endeavour.  And so the blog was born.
We knew it could also be the tool that may help satisfy those other interested parties’ need to keep track of us. Others had taken it upon themselves to invest time and consideration into loving us, and we were well aware that was not to be taken advantage of. There were many who were uncomfortable that we had taken this challenge on; they worried over us and their unrest was not to be taken lightly.  There were others who wanted to sail with us but could not and that needed to be considered. Others planning the trip themselves were hoping for any helpful information we might provide from our experiences.  And there were those who were just curious about how the journey would enfold.

Upon reading this journal, it may seem to some that we have encountered countless trials as we continued along our voyage.  We have yet to see the difficulties we came up against as negatives. In fact, we were glad to have the challenges that came to us.  The most important rationale behind sailing this vessel to Nova Scotia rather than trucking her to her new home port was our understanding of the immense learning curve we knew we would gain along the way.  This vessel of ours is just one piece in the plan the captain and I have for our future. Some people experience such loss as their children move further and further away from their lives and closer and closer to their own.  In effort to eradicate this for ourselves and to let go of our true love for that part of our lives, we have chosen to reignite our own passion with the help of Bridlewilde and all that she offers.  Ultimately, our constant need to decipher the knowledge we have about ourselves, acquire sound information about our vessel and gain as much sailing expertise as we can possibly absorb will help us navigate there, informed.  Whatever adversity we are challenged with, on the water or otherwise, whatever joys to come our way, we will face together and look forward to its learned outcome.  Explaining to you how utterly exciting that is for us at this new stage of our lives is beyond me.   
Prior to our departure on this voyage, we spent countless hours researching.  We met wonderful people who share our interest and gladly gave us the benefit of their knowledge and experiences.  We`ve spent hours and hours reviewing sailing networks and forums for any pertinent information that may and did help us and we are thankful for it all.  In our effort to add to those resources and say thanks, I have tried to point out some highlights of the experiences, encounters and remedies we have garnered, as many as we could, that may be of some help to those reading this blog  who are or may be contemplating or planning to make this trip or otherwise.

This blog and my ramblings throughout it are dedicated to my parents for without them, none of this would ever have been possible.  Their gifts were deep and wondrous and have given me so much.  I remember fondly, my precious memory of a warm day when a gentle breeze blowing across the bay rustled an aging pine tree on the beach under which my dad and I were seated.  As a younger man he had looked ahead, purchased a beach property, as one of his contributions toward the future of his children, his grandchildren and of generations to follow.   It was his dream; his ideal; a legacy he was proud of; a place in time where he thought his memory would stand fast forever.  We were taking a break - we had been mucking about it all week, cleaning and clearing it up keeping it ready for the remaining summer’s dream – things he so loved to do for his family.   We sat quietly taking in the beauty of our surroundings and I asked him how it was that I would ever be able to thank him for all that he had given me over the course of my life.  He told me that I couldn’t.  Our children were then still quite young (and so was I) and I am not sure, at the time, if I was more hurt or surprised by his answer.  He told me that if I could do for my children, what I thought he had done for me, it would be then that I would understand why I could not thank him and his legacy would live on.  He died three days later.   And I do understand!

We had no plan as to what this blog would look like.  It is what it is!  I hope it has given you something. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of it.

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