PLANNING THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY

"Gonna take a sentimental journey..."

As the song goes...I'm going to take a sentimental journey to Chile this November. Plans are taking shape, and I'm about to book my flight. My good friend Patrick from Germany will accompany me and we plan to meet up in Toronto for the long flight down.

This journey is an invitation...a 'gift' from the ex-wife of my dear friend A. who died last Fall.
When she was here during A's stay in Palliative and for several weeks after his death, C. and I and her children became friends, and she invited Patrick and I to visit her in Santiago. So now we are making plans and hope to go there for about two weeks.

All during my friendship with A. he talked incessantly about his country, which he longed to return to. He was living in exile here, after escaping Pinochet's junta and then the junta in Argentina where he'd fled with his wife and children. He and his wife were active in the revolutionary movement and worked and lived in the shanty towns. He was a great suporter of Salvatore Allende and had turned down an opportunity to be part of his government. A. 'educated' me about Chile and what had happened there. So this invitation means a lot to me. It's going to be a real 'sentimental journey' to the land that A. loved so much and the places where he and C. spent time and were actively involved in that part of Chile's history. I hope too that I can visit some of Pablo Neruda's places as A. was the one who introduced me to the poet.

It's really exciting to have a new destination in mind and within the week have that ticket booked and paid for making the 'dream' a reality.

So watch this space for more news as the plans take shape.