It’s 9:26 AM. Finally, Vancouver’s International Airport offers terminal-wide free Wi-Fi access. I’m sitting in the more modest Domestic Departure Terminal, gate B21. Westjet flight 506 is on time, bound for Montreal Trudeau International, aka good old Dorval airport.

Even though I’m still in town and I didn’t have to clear customs this time, Vancouver and the West Coast have already receded far behind the horizon and an imaginary but very tangible line now separates me from an old home, drawing me towards a new one.

My heart is heavy. British Columbia is an extraordinary place and will be dearly missed. But where I’m going, no time to cry; many more jewels await and my own star shines with infinite grace on the Eastern Seaboard.

We leave small pieces of ourselves everywhere we go, but take so much in exchange along with us, to keep us warm, to keep us amazed, and growing. Change is a blessing. It reminds me, always, of the uncanny ability of this universe to keep surprising me. I wonder how the other ones work…

"Everything will be alright
Everything will turn out fine
Some nights I still can’t sleep
And the voices pass with time
And I keep

No time for tears
No time to run and hide
No time to be afraid of fear
I keep no time to cry"

The Sisters of Mercy – No Time to Cry