September 20, 2008

Going Home...

Next month the wife and I are taking a trip to Australia. I'm calling it my pilgrimage. She's never been Down Under and I was born and part-raised there. There will be a family reunion of sorts, and no doubt hundreds of photos, hours of video footage, and a load of memories for us upon our return as well.

The last time I made my bed in Australia I was fifteen and it was 1991. For whatever reasons I have not been 'home' since. I'm a man now, and I was a kid then. I don't really have too much in common anymore with the boy I used to be, but I miss him all the same. Especially the big hair - I really dug that look!

Sometimes I wonder what kind of man he would have grown into under that sunny Sydney sky, had life taken him on another journey. I'm not talking about regret, or 'gee-I-wish-my-life-had-turned-out-differently': I'm talking about Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors. Boom! First time around I went left, but you know what? This time I'm going right.

...I'd probably still be writing though.

Do I wish I had taken the road less travelled? No, I do not.

Have my childhood memories been air-brushed by the passage of time? Maybe, but I don't really think that matters.

Will I have a quiet moment of reflection when I'm there, while I remember the Antipodean teenager I used to be?

Yeah. Probably.

5 comments:

Dalim said...

Wow that means you have been in the British Isles for longer then you were in this sunburnt country. I think you will notice a few differences and remember a lot of similarities. If you have time and the chance your welcome to my home anytime! Cheers
B

Dalim said...

Oh and I remember the big hair - I think we all had big hair or at least we tried to... some of the face you might remember are very different now... Geoff has no hair and host a short corporate type cut... such a shame we lose our ideal hair just as we become who we are...

Anonymous said...

Loved My Wife Glows in the Dark!
Caroline Wells

Brian G Ross said...

Yeah, losin' the big hair... I raged against that machine for many a night!

Caroline - your kind words are always appreciated.

:o)

Tuonela said...

Hey Brian, leave your woolies at home - it's getting hot here early this year!