Twenty years ago!

It's twenty years ago that we arrived in Canada - yesterday.
What a lot has happened since that day; my little children have become adults, and they have their own lives with their own dreams.
I came across a picture of the day we left Scotland. There was Hannah clutching her dolly (Big Sister), Elliot with his Indiana Jones hat on & a beaming smile & Tom with his proud chest stuck out & arms out as if to protect his bother & sister. That was a fairly damp day on mums patio.
We had gone to Mums to spend a week there before we left, and in that time Hannah had cultivated a convincing Scottish accent! We left from Prestwick Airport which was new to me as I had only ever left from Glasgow, but transatlantic flights still left from Prestwick 20 years ago.
In preparation for our trip & with our belongings being shipped Tom, Elliot & Hannah were each provided with a backpack which they filled with toys & books. This was to be their supply for the 6 weeks that their other toys would be in transit. I have a giggle every time I think of Hannah with her wee turquoise & pink backpack filled with her stuff which to most wasn't heavy, but for a two year old was enough to pull her over backward. I had to be very wary not to leave her unattended on she would upend! For me it was important that all their toys came with us, but that their special things traveled with them, hence the backpack system.
I think it was a Thursday we arrived & by Monday the boys were at school. Elliot had morphed into the all Canadian 6 year-old, but Tom refused to let go his British past and went to school throughout the rest of his elementary days in his British school uniform. By the end of the first week he was doing crossing patrol which I thought was very daring of the school as we were still looking for traffic coming from the other side before we started to cross the road!
The first few months were pretty difficult as I wasn't working, I had to do my Canadian exams to be able to work, so it wasn't until the 13th of August that I started at UBC hospital. We were living on around $20/week, which was pretty good even then. We hadn't found out all the best places to shop to stretch the $$ but we survived. It was certainly better once I started to work.
Throughout that first year Tom was determined he was NOT going to stay in Canada, he was going back to Britain, so every penny he was given went into that fund. The summer after we arrived in Canada we went back to Britain and spent 5 weeks visiting friends and family. When we got home Tom had decided Canada was fine for him!
The move to Canada has meant that my life has blossomed. I am happy considering Canada home and I am extremely happy that my children were not brought up in Lancashire with the strong northern English accent that reeks of Coronation Street!
Being in Canada has allowed me to find my freedom and enabled me to become more the 'me' I dreamed about. It has given me opportunities I would have struggled to ever dream of in Britain, and I am grateful for all of that. I still have dreams to achieve, but they no longer seem impossible.
I believe the move to Canada has allowed my children to flourish into wonderful people. I doubt the chances they have had here would have been available to them knowing how our life was 'over there'. I also think they have learned skills here to encourage them to make the best of themselves.
I am very, very proud of my children.
I believe 'happiness' is momentary but those many moments lead to the state of contentment. I feel very content!