This morning my brother and his family got in their new van and drove away from my parents’ place, off to the Yukon. Ian applied for — and got — a social work position up there, inspired after attending a conference in Whitehorse (also in the Yukon).
It’s a big adventure for them, one they could never pass up, and so many things lined up to help them on their way that none of us doubts this is the right thing for them to do. I’ve been there myself, hearing the call to move somewhere else (I arrived in the UK seven years ago this month), yet it’s funny knowing that my bro will be so far away.
It’s strange for my parents, too, who’ve been used to having Ian’s family around on weekends a lot of the time (there’s so much more going on in Charlottetown than out in the country where they lived). And my nephew has been staying with them for the past two years, working, then studying photography in town.
It’s a big change for Ellen’s family, too: her parents are now living in a home, which is no doubt better for them, but the time finally came to sell the family farm. It had been handed down for generations, and for Ellen it was always “home”. When Ian and she decided to build a house, they built on the land next door. Ellen’s brother will be staying in their house, but the farm had to go.
It’s a silly comparison, but I can’t help thinking of the bit in Anne of Green Gables when Anne and Marilla are faced with the prospect of having to sell the farm. “But you can’t sell Green Gables!” Anne protests. Apparently you can.
It’s not good to resist the call to adventure, though. Hero stories from around the world, throughout time, all agree on this. (And in my eyes, with the social work my brother has done, much of it on behalf of disadvantaged families, I think of him as a hero.) I can’t wait to see the pictures and read the tales of my brother and his family settling in and working in a remote part of the country that so few Canadians ever visit. Ian has experience working with the First Nations community, and this new post will involve a lot more of that work.
In the summer, apparently Dawson is a major tourist destination. If Prince Edward Island has its Green Gables and Edinburgh has its castle, Dawson City has memories of the gold rush to bank on. Ellen and Andrew’s work will probably be related to that.
I see my parents no less now than I did when I lived in Toronto — maybe even more often. But I guess I’d always selfishly counted on my brother and my sister to be there for them. So this is a change, and like any change it’s a bit scary. But the fears are all imagined and the good things about our family are real. If experience shows us anything, it’s that things just work out for us.
So, Godspeed, bro!
