September 06 2026
I don’t think I will ever forget the morning I left Canada. For a few months, September had been a date on the calendar. It was something we were preparing for, talking about and planning around along with moving house.
And then suddenly, it wasn’t a date anymore.
It was today.
I woke up knowing that this was the last morning, for a while, that I would wake up in my own bed. The last time I would walk through my home for a while. The last time I would look around at all the familiar things without wondering when I would see them again. And suddenly, everything felt different. The house looked the same.
But I didn’t feel the same.
Funny how leaving makes ordinary things feel extraordinary.
The kitchen.
The living room.
The view outside.
The little things that make a house our home.
I realized that I wasn’t really saying goodbye to a house.
I was saying goodbye, temporarily, to a life.
A life that I love.
A life that took years to build.
A life filled with family and people I love.
And that made leaving much harder than I expected.
Along with all the above, the inevitable thought:
“How are we supposed to fit everything we need for 15 months into these suitcases?”
But eventually, the bags were packed. And we were on our way.
I remember sitting in the car and looking out at the familiar streets. Places I had driven countless times suddenly seemed different. I found myself taking mental photographs.
I’ll remember this.
I’ll remember that.
Maybe that sounds silly.
But when you know you’re leaving for a long time, your mind starts collecting memories without you even asking it to.
And then came the airport.
That was when it became real.
There is something about standing in an airport with your luggage, knowing you’re not going away for a week or two.
We’re going away for 15 months.
Fifteen months in another country.
Fifteen months of work, learning, adapting, discovering and hopefully making a small difference.
And my husband is coming with me. That part makes me smile. Because this isn’t just my adventure. It’s ours. We don’t know exactly what these 15 months will look like. We don’t know what challenges we’ll face, who we’ll meet, what friendships we’ll make or what moments will stay with us forever. But we’re doing it together. And that means more to me than I can put into words.
I am grateful for the life I’ve had in Canada.
And grateful that I have been given the opportunity to step away from it—not because I don’t love it, but because sometimes we are called to step outside what is comfortable and familiar.
I had made the decision and taken the leap.
Now all I could do was open my heart and see where this journey would take me.
Rwanda was waiting.
And so, with tears in my eyes and a heart full of gratitude, I looked forward.
The next chapter had begun.
