Anniversaries

Today, September 11, 2004, is an important anniversary. A lot of people out there are talking and writing about one anniversary, but I am talking about a different one. Today is also the anniversary of my coming to the States.

On September 8, 1995 I packed up and left Nova Scotia for a job in Boston, Mass. I drove down, moved into temporary quarters, and three days later, on September 11, I started working at my first job in the United States.

I find it hard to believe I have been living "abroad" for nine years. I have, but it doesn't feel like nine years. Lately it has been feeling like a lot longer. I am not sure how much longer I will stay in the States. Partly because it depends on how much longer the new Bureau of Homeland Security allows me to stay and partly because there are days when I am ready to pack it all in and move back immediately.

Despite what some people have tried to tell me, Canada and the United States are not the same. There are even Americans who tell me that Canada is not a foreign country. I agree with these people, but only because I grew up in Canada so the United States is the foreign country.

I don't know how much longer I will be here. All I can tell you at the moment is that I am not planning on packing up anytime in the next few days. I am not looking beyond that yet.