I just had two friends visit us all the way from Finland.  The three of us met on the first day of “English emersion” school in grade one, and have been friends ever since. But the Atlantic Ocean has separated us for over 10 years now, and it was wonderful to see them again.

One thing that brought me so much joy was watching them experience Canadian firsts.  Here are some of them:

Taking them to see a movie at the drive-in

Teaching them how to use a Canadian tap (one of them tried and tried to wash her hands in our bathroom but could not figure out how to get the tap to work)

Smelling a skunk

Candy apples

Making the grilled cheese (they had no idea what it was…they thought grilled cheese was just cheese grilled in a pan by itself)

Taking them to Wonderland

It made me think of other firsts…ones that have more meaning, more impact, and more consequences.

First crush

First kiss

First sexual encounter

First baby

First spouse

First divorce

These are all really big firsts.  It struck me that when we travel we plan out our firsts, but when it comes to life we don’t think quite to clearly sometimes.  We often don’t think about our first kiss or when we give away our virginity.

As we head into the weekend and into the summer, let’s be careful about how we live out our firsts.  Then, at the end of our lives when we look back, we can remember them with joy, not regret.

Michelle