Well, here we go again – another grateful goodbye to radio, but this time with a little more peace in my heart. You see, this was a gift that just happened to come when I needed it most. As I’ve often said, radio has saved me more times than I can count. And today I close another chapter.
 
Last May, just before we were to mark the second anniversary of Lauren’s passing (always a heavy, heavy time) I was approached by my friends at Rogers radio in Toronto and asked if I might, by any chance, be interested in doing some work with the CHFI-type station here in Victoria, BC, this beautiful island city that we had called home for just about five months at the time.
 
I was a little reluctant: we were in the midst of trying to get my book started (a daunting task on its own) and also wanted the freedom to travel and do what we wanted, Rob and I. But Wendy Duff in Toronto and Rob Michaels here in BC made it as easy as it could be: I could do my show from home in that little wine room that we turned into a studio, in which I do this audio journal every day as well as various freelance ventures. I came to really look forward to every day’s show and a chance just to go into a little room and laugh and talk to myself (and our listeners, of course) and “play radio,” my favourite pastime. 
 

 
A few months’ work filling in on middays turned into a couple more, until I was told last month that the tweaking was finished and the new system that was being put into place would be ready by this coming Monday. It means that Rob Michaels, who loves Victoria and knows it well, will be on Ocean 98.5‘s airwaves again, but this time in middays. I am so happy that the station continues to look at a bright future and, under new Program Director Susan Knight, as well as with a great new morning team as of last fall, big things are in store.
 
So, what does this mean for us? Honestly, I’m not quite sure. Monday is the deadline for the 2.0 version of my book manuscript to be sent off to HarperCollins, so we’re on track for that. That date, February 26, is also the planned release date in 2019. We’ve planned a 10-day trip in March and another 10-day venture to Ontario for business in April. So travel is definitely in the works, as you read here on Wednesday with our trip to California on the horizon. We’ve got the river cruise with Mike and Debbie that we’re hosting in April and who knows what else is in store.
 
I don’t know what I am going to do when I’m no longer part of the Rogers family, but I haven’t cut any ties and certainly am not planning on burning any bridges! I’m going to miss preparing and doing a daily radio show but, honestly, this gentle and fun midday adventure here at Ocean 98.5 has been such a lovely way to ease my way out of the pace and pressure of a morning show. It’s just what my soul (and mind) needed; I was feeling after the shock of moving and leaving Toronto set in, I was sort of rudderless and wondering what the heck we’d done.
 
I’m sorry to be leaving the fellow former Torontonians who’ve reached out to say they’ve heard me on Ocean and it’s felt a bit like their former homes, and to those who say they’ve been listening online; I can only hope we’ll stay in touch here. But in the meantime, here we go – closing one door and stepping through the next open door we find. That’s what life is all about, right?
 
Have a lovely weekend and we’ll be back with you here on Monday.