I’ve reached the end of another book in the “Life of Andrew” series, and walked into the epilogue of Andrew in Australia.
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In this closing chapter Andrew returns home to London Ontario, where much of his childhood was spent and many of his family members remain. He wanders the streets feeling uncomfortably familiar with this life that now seems foreign to him. Buildings change, people age, yet it is still the small, bland city he left 7 months prior.
Although it is late summer here, Andrew is cold. The weather which once warmed his body now chills his thinned blood, so he layers his clothing, prompting the resident 3 year old to ask “Why you wearing pants Andrew? It’s a shorts day.” Walking down the sidewalk, confused faces from oncoming pedestrians remind Andrew he is walking on the left, and Andrew frequently has to explain himself every time he speaks of “Maccas”.
Yet amidst this (un)familiar world there are familiar faces. A welcomed opportunity to reminisce on times of old, and brief one another on lost time while often indulging themselves with some form of nourishment. As the time passes with each individual, a sense of normality eventually steps into the scene. One that is welcomed, yet unannounced and simultaneously dreaded, leaving Andrew questioning…
Has any time really passed? Can things truly be that familiar? Why is this feeling wanted yet so revolted?
It is not that Andrew wishes to be elsewhere. Regardless of his continual passion for adventure, he recognizes and values the need to touch base with home. He enjoys it, and with time constraining his ability to see everyone, he wishes he could stay long enough to see them all. So it is not a desire for escape that warrants this dread of the familiar, but an uncertainty. An uncertainty that the familiar will not understand this new normal that Andrew has become adept to.
So, swimming against the current of old, Andrew sprawls himself out upon the shore and reflects upon the past 7 months. The adventure, the learning, the fun, the frustrations. The friends.
The world seems much smaller now, yet still so large. On his quest to discover great new lands he found them, and to his surprise these lands were much more familiar than expected. He learned not to adapt to diversity but to embrace it. To share the uniqueness of culture and individuality through common ground such as family, food, music and faith. He found beauty in it all, and he felt at home. He fell in love with it all, and it broke his heart to leave it behind.
That time is over now. As much as he longs to return, he knows that the coming of a new season calls for change. So he will take these past 6 months and bring them with him. Occasionally he’ll take some time to unpack them, to make sense of it all, but he will not leave it behind. He will carry them with him and as a result his world view will never be the same, and the lessons he has learned will change the way he lives. A new normal.
But this new normal will not stay normal, because that’s not what normal is. A social construct at best, made to give us a sense of stability throughout our life in this ever changing world, will never stand. So he’ll venture out, chasing change, for himself and for the world. Sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding, but always with an assurance that it will all work out in the end.
It may be the end of this book, but another one will soon begin, for there are so many more adventures to be had.
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