do i regret moving to canada? is the earth flat?

Several people have emailed to ask if I regret moving to Canada. Potential reasons include the death of our beloved dog Buster ten weeks after arriving, having to move, and my place of employment closing.

I'm so taken aback by the question, I hardly know where to begin. That is, apart from a resounding "NO".

The reasons we wanted to leave the US still exist there, and have only gotten worse, as all problems, unrepaired, will do over time. The reasons I strongly believed I'd be happier in Canada still exist. I'm happy to be here, and so grateful I had the option.

I didn't move to Canada expecting my life to be perfect and trouble-free once I got here. We've had sadness, we've had loss. We've had challenges. We've had happiness, and joy, and growth, and adventure, and love. We're living our lives. This means there's good and bad.

Buster would have died no matter where we were. I was grateful beyond measure that we pulled him through those last months in New York, so he was able to make the move with us. Would I miss him any less if I were still in the US?

I had a great job in New York. I willingly left it, I chose to leave it, knowing it would be irreplaceable in Toronto. But the New York job wouldn't have lasted forever. Nothing does. What's more, it was just a job - a way to enable more important things in my life, but not important in itself.

Most people we know who moved to Canada from other countries had to move again within the first year or two of arrival. What are the odds of finding the ideal place to live on the first go? We knew the little house by the Lake came with a risk. It was exactly the right place at the right time, and we accepted the risk. Then we had to move. Moving is dreadful, and then it's over.

We love our current house, the neighbourhood, the big, fenced-in yard. Cody is still doing well, and Tala is the light of our lives. We're working, writing, watching baseball, hanging out with friends, traveling when we can.

My life isn't perfect. Whose is? But I have inner peace. Everything else I can work with.