Three weeks of romance in Europe...then back to reality

I returned on December 18, 2008.  Not that it had been warm and balmy in Europe, but it was snowing and freezing in Vancouver.  If my flight had left Paris just a few hours later, I wouldn't have been able to land in Toronto due to a snow storm and possibly would not have been able to leave Europe.  Of course, there is no way I could have been that lucky!

Somehow I was different when I returned.  My apartment looked different, my work was different, my relations with my friends were different. I don't think they changed.  I think I changed.  Somehow I was stronger and more sure about who I was.  Actually, I was completely confused about who I was, but at least I was able to break away from the complacency and acceptance that had previously controlled me.

I didn't know what was going to happen with S, although I knew that my previous relationship -- the one of four years that had carried with it depression and heartache -- had to change.  I started to pull away from P and my relationship with S (which was growing into one of facebook, email and intermittent phone calls) became my lifeline.  He would prove to be among the greatest influencers in my life.