January 15, 2024, marks the 27th year since I moved away from Brazil.

I’m now as old as my dad was when we left.

It’s bizarre to think that I’ve been in Canada (and before that, the US) for way longer than I lived in my home country.

But the truth is that my life is Canadian now. It has been for a long time. My children are Canadian, my house is in Canada, my cars have Ontario plates, I’m a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, I have pledged allegiance to the Queen of England and her heirs formally twice now.

But at the same time, I’m still Brazilian.

It’s weird.