Bittersweet reflections
Opportunities, growth, family, exhaustion, and finally...rebalancing
Dearest Readers - Apologies for the hiatus.
In early March we welcomed my parents for a long-awaited visit. On the verge of our one year of living in Denmark anniversary, while in the midst of my husband starting his new job, me beginning a new exciting work project while also finishing a proofreading course and preparing for my module 2 Dansk exam = the perfect storm for exhaustion. Sometimes, you can’t plan for the chaos. You just have to embrace it, know your limits and try your best to navigate. Get creative and keep your sense of humour. Deep breaths! Then take a bit of time to rebalance once the dust settles. Which is where I’m at right now. Rebalancing.
My parents originally visited us about six weeks after we moved here in 2024. And at the time we were living in a short-term apartment with very few of our own things (our first shipment of boxes was delayed and arrived about a week after they returned home…go figure). We were still so fresh to the area and had very little local knowledge under our belts. It’s wild to look back and think ‘wow, our Danish life was so different then!’. A year go. Already one year?! That’s a post for another day.
With their most recent visit we were excited to welcome them into our home, filled with our own things from furniture to kitchen utensils, décor to towels. Introducing them to our neighbours and friends. It felt far more relaxing and comfortable for everyone.
My Mom, having visited two times already, hit her stride this time and rapidly became an expert in public transport. Once she had the DOT app at her fingertips she was off (I may have briefly considered turning on her google tracking). And my Dad, once he had figured out North from South, and East from West, he was eagerly off for long walks to observe city life, enjoy cafes and bakeries and take in the local real estate. In fairness to him and his confusion, we come from a place where the mountains (remember those?) are always to the North…always! I’m proud of them. They both navigated city life with relative ease and only briefly complained about the weather. They discovered their own favourite spots and local delicacies. Visited museums and a few touristy attractions. I even got my mom back up on a bike. Not bad eh?
I was able to jump in and out of their days between classes and work. Meeting them for lunch or catching up in the evenings over dinner, discussing our days and their own little discoveries. They picked up my son from vuggestue a few times and gave me a brief taste of what it’s like to have a village at my fingertips (it’s nice, and yes, I miss them dearly). We celebrated my birthday with a trip to Carlsberg for a spa experience at Aire (mother and daughter date) and dinner at the Gasoline Grill. We even took a day-trip out to Roskilde to explore the Viking Museum. Stunning place.
A wonderfully sweet 2 ½ weeks. Just long enough that by the time they were packed up and, on their way, back to Canada…they left a void that I had to sit with for a bit to find my footing again. Deep sigh. So bittersweet.
Until next time - Much love my friends.