Ahhh, Summer Vacation:  a time to sleep in, camp with the family, catch up with friends over a patio, and generally embrace the flip-flop life.  The kids are loving it:  they are sleeping in later than ever, cruising to the mall to catch the latest of the 9-million Marvel franchise movies, and heading to the basketball court to shoot some hoops.  They are doing exactly what they should be doing.

We kicked off Summer this year with two other families, and our first foray into Glamping.  Renting a ski chalet in the remote-yet-close Hemlock Valley, we were reminded yet again of what great friendship was.

I have known these families for almost twenty years, and I love them deeply.  We are a diverse bunch, but we are unified in our intentions together.   We are kind.  We are supportive.  We have each others’ backs.  We are mindful.  I can’t help but think this is the best example we can offer our children of healthy relationships, pursued with pure intention.

These two families have been absolute rocks of support through our journey together, especially A’s celiac diagnosis and our subsequent re-learning of cooking, nutrition, cross-contamination and all those fun little nuances that initially ate me up with anxiety.  Rather than criticizing, or declaring that we had to change to fit into the world, these families held us up through our journey of changing the world to make it safer for A.  Rather than judging us, they supported us in all that we needed to do to come out the other end calmer, easier, and more comfortable with mixed meals together.

I cannot thank them all enough for the ability for all of us to be truly vulnerable together: to experience true friendship and understand that they’ve got me, and that collectively, we’ve got this.

Soon, we will come together to give out our camping awards, as what kind of a weekend would it be without a themed dinner and a costume contest!?  I look forward to seeing them again over flip-flops and a patio, planning the next adventure together, as the kids grow another year older together, (and so do we!) and we spend another amazing weekend in the wilds of BC together somewhere.  It doesn’t matter where, truly:  as long as we are together!