March 1997
Having finished my clinical internship in January, I returned to Toronto, Ontario in March for my official graduation ceremony from Chiropractic college. Because I had four year's worth of frequent flier points, I upgraded to Business Class for the short plane ride from Boston to Canada.
I found myself sitting next to one of the General Managers of the Boston Bruins. Full of enthusiasm for my new profession, I delivered my five minute "Chiropractic will save the world" speech. Apparently I was so convincing that the man offered me a position as the team doctor for the championship hockey team.
Except that I had already begun processing my aliyah through the Israeli Consulate, and had even received my one-way El Al ticket. And in my naiveté, I joyfully answered this once in a lifetime job offer in the negative, explaining that I was planning on fulfilling a dream of moving to Israel in June, and therefore could not commit to a serious job in the United States.
July 2013
One week before my 45th birthday, and rather than ignore the day as I normally do, I find myself playing the less than efficient "What If" game. What if I had accepted that job offer 16 years ago? Would I have ever come to Israel, or would I have stayed on the East Coast, eventually getting married and living in the dream house with a back yard and a literal white picket fence?
Would I have been happier?
It is rare for a person to be able to look back on their life and pinpoint the exact moment that they made a choice, a life-altering decision that set the path for the future. I chose Israel at that moment in Business Class.
The next time I chose a path with the ultimate of consequences was that morning about six years ago that I woke up and said to myself, "I'm ready. I'm ready to be a mother, even without a husband, because I don't want to miss the amazing opportunity to be pregnant, to feel a life growing inside me, and to watch that child grow every day."
I am fairly certain that Raphaela would not exist if I had not come to Israel to build a life.
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto. Show all posts
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Day Dreaming
Today, in between patients, my mind drifted to a place where I imagined that somehow for no particular reason I got ripped out the present and returned to the beginning of 1997, toward the end of my internship in Chiropractic school, and a half a year before I moved to Israel. Serves me right for reading and watching too much science fiction.
It felt very real to me, so much so that I went into a panic because I could not remember the combination to my locker, or how to get to school from my apartment in Toronto. Then I wondered what I would do if I had a test that day and hadn't studied, and decided that I would have to call in sick for the entire day, in order to avoid these problems.
Then I wondered in whom I would confide and seek help, who of my friends would take me seriously if I told them that I was a time traveler from 2013; ultimately I chose my best friend Shalymar and my cousin Susie. How would I prove my claim? Would they believe me if I warned them about the stock market crash under the Bush Administration, the various natural disasters that struck the States and Asia, the tragedy of 9/11, or the election (twice!) of the first black President? I would not be able to hold myself back, and would need to tell my cousin that her husband was having an affair and was planning to divorce her, or that my friend Shalymar would meet the man of her dreams but have to move to a different state to marry him.
Given Chaos Theory and following the first law of Star Trek, perhaps I should avoid saying anything of the sort, the smallest inappropriately- placed knowledge could alter the entire Universe; butterfly flapping wings, war in China etc.
Here was the greater challenge: if I could accept time travel and the sharing of very limited information, what kind of note would I leave myself before I returned to my own time? If I could only leave a message of several cryptic words, what would my future self tell my past self?
How about, "Invest in iPhone." But that would make no sense to me at the time.
I actually agonized over this decision for much of the afternoon, and despite all the dramatic and global stories to which I could have alluded, I decided that I would write the following: "Raphaela is coming :-) Get ready!"
It felt very real to me, so much so that I went into a panic because I could not remember the combination to my locker, or how to get to school from my apartment in Toronto. Then I wondered what I would do if I had a test that day and hadn't studied, and decided that I would have to call in sick for the entire day, in order to avoid these problems.
Then I wondered in whom I would confide and seek help, who of my friends would take me seriously if I told them that I was a time traveler from 2013; ultimately I chose my best friend Shalymar and my cousin Susie. How would I prove my claim? Would they believe me if I warned them about the stock market crash under the Bush Administration, the various natural disasters that struck the States and Asia, the tragedy of 9/11, or the election (twice!) of the first black President? I would not be able to hold myself back, and would need to tell my cousin that her husband was having an affair and was planning to divorce her, or that my friend Shalymar would meet the man of her dreams but have to move to a different state to marry him.
Given Chaos Theory and following the first law of Star Trek, perhaps I should avoid saying anything of the sort, the smallest inappropriately- placed knowledge could alter the entire Universe; butterfly flapping wings, war in China etc.
Here was the greater challenge: if I could accept time travel and the sharing of very limited information, what kind of note would I leave myself before I returned to my own time? If I could only leave a message of several cryptic words, what would my future self tell my past self?
How about, "Invest in iPhone." But that would make no sense to me at the time.
I actually agonized over this decision for much of the afternoon, and despite all the dramatic and global stories to which I could have alluded, I decided that I would write the following: "Raphaela is coming :-) Get ready!"
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