The day before yesterday, on the way back home from running an errand, I checked my post box and was delighted to find an envelope addressed to me. My heart filled with joy when I saw it was from my dear friend, Kaarina, whom I adore.
I ran up the stairs, memories of happy times stumbling over each other in my head as I was transported to a few months ago, when I had the privilege of meeting her in person.
I was eager to open the envelope. And when I did, my eyes filled up.
Loved the cute sticker!
Here’s the lovely card with the pretty snowflake
Thank you Kaarina!
Opened the envelope carefully so the sticker would be intact!
Soul connection!
Often, we connect with someone and a soul connection is born. We long to meet them. When they live in a far off country, it seems unlikely. It feels frustrating. We wish for a miracle to happen and in my case, it did. I swear the Universe conspired. Against all odds, we made that trip to Canada.
It was a very special trip for me. I was going to stay with my best friend of 35+ years for three weeks. As my luck would have it, two more close friends reside in that country. So I was looking forward to a fabulous time.
I got it.
Meeting Kaarina Dillabough is one of the best moments in my life. She is a warm generous person who is intuitively responsive and spontaneously friendly. She is a fabulous photographer and it is a delight to see her gorgeous pictures on Facebook.
Kaarina is a business strategist, motivational speaker, facilitator, trainer and personal/professional coach and mentor. She is a former Olympic coach with an important place in the history of Canadian Olympics – yes! … and helps people take action and achieve results. I love her tagline “Decide2Do” She shares her story here.
“I’m not interested in creating winners for a season: I’m interested in developing champions for life.” Kaarina Dillabough
We connected via her blog at the letter “O” of her series called An Alphabet of Business Questions and Tips. Of course I immediately wished we had met earlier…still! And after that, the fun times rolled. I loved the wrap up post of the series!
Much later, I wrote “Xenodochial” for the letter X in the April A to Z Challenge 2013
We continued to interact and I enjoyed it very much. To me, here was a strong, level headed person who walked the talk. As our trip took shape, I couldn’t wait to meet her.
And then we met.
We had a glorious time. It was a magical day that began with the most beautiful drive followed by lunch at a lovely restaurant, a tour of a mill turned into an art studio, a visit to her beautiful home, our very first sight of snow, a visit with her friend Mr. Allan Pace at the Farmhouse Pottery, who also runs Canoe North Adventures.
Lunch. Looked too good to eat. But it was great!
Just Desserts
Serenity. Full heart!
Love this pic!
Kaarina’s beautiful home
The Beatles!
At Allan Pace’s
Then it was time to return home, but not without a promise of another meeting, which was a couple of days later.
Every time we think of her, we’re filled with a warm happy feeling, reminiscing about our time together. And the precious gifts she gave us. The best gift for me is the gift of her friendship!
Precious and handcrafted postage stamps. The pendant on the sterling silver chain is very special.
She also gave me this lovely notebook. This is no ordinary rose. It turns into a big bag!
No matter what I write, I realized I can never do justice to this post. My friendship with Kaarina is far more than that. All I can say is it is an honor to know her and I am blessed to have her in my life. We enjoy long emails to each other and feel a deep soul connection. I look forward to meeting her again!
Kaarina’s writing touches my heart and I always feel inspired by her words. Please, do read this post: Wishes for a simpler time. I promise it will resonate with you! Another post you’ll love is: What will you do when no one is looking?
Tell me – have you met an online friend in real life?
How did it feel?
(Linking up with UnknownMami for Sundays In My City – my favorite meme. I am grateful to Claudya for making world travel so easy!)
Merry Christmas, dear Ones!
Namaste!
I am glad you are here. May your day be filled with smiles!
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