My Friends' Reunion Turned My Life Around

After getting divorced, Annabel Jones travelled home for the first time in 23 years, reliving her teen years and finding the missing piece of herself

- Annabel Jones

Someone once told me that you have a heart age and a real age. Your real age needs no explaining, your heart age, however, is the number you feel in your heart and soul. my heart age is 19. The year I left Canada.

I believe there’s a time in everyone’s life when they felt their most whole – the best of themselves – and this was my time. Not to say life hasn’t been good to me. I’ve had an exciting, fulfilling career as a journalist for 20 years.

I’ve travelled the globe, had two amazing children, twins, now 11, and I own a beautiful home. But there’s something special about that moment in time, when I was just me, before the job titles, the parenting roles, the bills, the noise.

I grew up on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Surrounded by mountains, lakes, rivers and oceans, life was full of adventure. I miss the space, the beauty, the peace. But what I treasure most from that time, is my friends. My gang. My girls.

There’s something about having a crew of women who’ve got your back no matter what. The ones who shared in the heartaches and parent-aches, who watched you make mistakes and were right there with you for the laughs and lessons they brought. And it was in the halls of my high school that I found my soul tribe: Allison, Bronwen, Sam, Jodi, Kari, Kirsty and Sheena.

I came to England in 1993 for university and to pursue my dream to be a journalist. It’s been 23 years and in all that time I didn’t visit Vancouver. Not because I didn’t miss it, but because life had moved on. I climbed the career ladder, got married, had kids and before I knew it, I was 40.