Adopted

Two girls from England, a woman from New Zealand, a tour guide from Prince Edward Island, a performing arts student, a young man that crept in quietly and pulled up a chair, and two girls, new friends, from Canada (Edmonton and Winnipeg).

No, this isn't the start of one of those "walks into a bar" jokes. This is the conglomeration of strangers that gathered together last night in a room just large enough to fit us all comfortably. Eight people. Eight strangers. Eight new friends. After enduring a couple of rainy days and a night of karaoke on Wednesday, when Jana and I decided that we were going to have a quiet Thursday night and watch a movie we never thought it would turn into a family affair.

Pick a movie.

No, you pick a movie.

Fine.

Hold on a minute. This sounds familiar. Am I at home? 

Okay. I have some options for us.

I had narrowed it down to three choices realizing one was a remake it automatically got eliminated. Still none of the others would make a decision. So, I put the last two options behind my back and tell someone to pick a hand. Jane, from New Zealand, picks my left hand - always go with the left.

For the next two hours and twenty minutes eight people, eight strangers, eight new friends - our make shift family from around the globe sat and watched Shawshank Redemption ("the best movie EVA"). Although we were all thousands of miles from home, some of us missing friends, some missing family, and all missing any sense of normalcy, for two hours and twenty minutes we could have been sitting in our own bedroom or family rooms watching a movie like any other rainy Thursday night.