A few years into my first job in Canada and I started thinking of books. Like in studying. I wanted to find out if I could garner some knowledge in business as in sales and marketing. It had to be evening classes for I was holding a full-time job. Along with these classes came assignments. Lots of it. In fact they were heavy enough to take up all of my spare time (there was hardly any to spare, anyway) – during lunch at work, at night after school and weekends. Our daughter was about five at the time. And, my husband was in a similar situation.

This was also a time when we had often thought of buying a cottage, or even a piece of land, but it had to be beside a lake. That was important. We imagined hiding here from the bustle of the city every weekend in summer. Just thinking and talking about it made us dreamy eyed. We imagined the long drive early Saturday mornings taking backways through rural communities, stopping for home cooked breakfasts at mom and pop type of diners, exchanging pleasantries with the owners while eating then taking off once again for our little paradise. Packing would be no problem, we assured each other, for we could throw whatever was required in the back of the car. That was our dream. For a long time.

Then as we settled becoming more familiar with life in Canada we realized our dream of owning a cottage or spending weekends out of the city also came with a long line of woes. We heard stories from friends who owned a cottage, passed down generations by family who had emigrated from Europe to Canada during the Depression. They had worked hard, built their cottage with their own hands and retired to live there. That was fine. But when it came time for the next generation to enjoy these getaways they, still living and working in the city, now had to take off every Friday right after work, drive through rush hour traffic with similar minded people on packed highways all heading north. We saw the line ups, ourselves. That was a big deterrent.

But the temptation still existed within us so when an acquaintance said to me she was selling her cottage and would we like to buy it (I must have mentioned something about our dream home away from home), we were sorely tempted. However, it was at that time we had also spent a lot of money arranging a trip to Europe, our first real summer vacation out of the country. We needed the break from a gruelling routine of work and school, keeping home and hearth together. Simply put, we needed a vacation arranged by a tour guide who would look after all the mundane details pertaining to luggage, hotels, meals and entertainment. The cottage could wait, we decided. As it happened this person couldn’t wait which, in retrospect, was a good thing.

All of this happened a long time ago.

We never bought another property out of the city, happy to be living close enough to city attractions and yet not quite within all that crazy frenetic movement.

Thinking back to that time I am glad we didn’t go through the mad rush of fleeing the city in the summer, driving through packed highways every Friday, arriving weary and out of sorts at our destination, trying to do as much “fun” things as possible within a day, then re-packing and taking the same packed highways home. Every weekend.  All this to justify the expense of owning a cottage!

Instead, we began to spend a lot of time in local parks after work spending evenings when we didn’t have school and all day in the weekends.

Looking after a household where a child is involved while juggling classes, assignments, and jobs can be challenging.

But we came up with an idea that worked so well we wondered why we hadn’t thought of it earlier. As they say necessity is the mother of all invention.

We were living in Scarborough at that time and visited Edward Gardens quite often loving its walkways, the beautiful gardens and hothouses, picturesque bridges over water where ducks and swans could be seen all the time. The estate originally belonged to a gentleman who purchased it sometime in 1944 then to be turned into a botanical garden in later years. Our daughter loved the place. It was truly a piece of heaven. Every time we visited there would be a wedding party taking pictures in its breathtaking surroundings. I believe it still happens today.

Why not, then, use what we already had access to so easily in the city and spend our weekends there?

Every weekend that summer and the ones following we packed a lunch, our books, notes and writing material, a few toys for our young one and headed to Edward Gardens. Here we chose a secluded spot, spread a blanket, and utilized that time mindfully taking turns to walk with our daughter and studying, even managing to get a few shut-eyes in between.

That time will be forever etched in my mind. We accomplished something by thinking outside the box, by creating our own space without going through a huge expense and spent time with each other enjoying each moment. Heaven is right here, in our own hearts, to be enjoyed any time we choose.

Keep Well…..Keep Smiling

Purabi Das

Purabi Das is an emerging writer and poet living in Pickering who finds inspiration for her stories and poems from life in general. To find out more visit Purabi on www.facebook.com/purabisinhadas