A Chord I Had No Idea Existed · Week 30
By Luca Bonafede · July 26, 2026 ·
A lot can happen in a week.
It was already dark when I arrived in Twillingate. I turned off the car, and the moment the engine went quiet, the fireworks went off.
A proper welcome back.
I had come for the Fish, Fun and Folk Festival, and it was as busy and intense as a small-town festival can possibly be. I met people with amazing, positive energy, the kind who make you forget that you are tired. Every hotel was fully booked, mostly by people from the area making sure they had a place to sleep instead of driving home drunk. Trust me, people drink a lot up there.
But somewhere between the first night and the last, a thought arrived uninvited. For some reason, I really felt that this was my last time in this beloved place.
I will come back to that. First, let me take you to the beginning of the week.
It started on a Sunday, celebrating St. John’s Pride and then watching the World Cup final, which was boring. The match for third and fourth place should have been the final. From there it became another week split between St. John’s and Twillingate, my second workplace and a location that is becoming an indelible part of my Canadian experience.
It was an incredible summer week: great people, intense workouts, unforgettable moments, and some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen here. Every drive, every conversation, every sunset reminded me how lucky I am to be here.
Downtown, Life got so busy that I had not climbed Signal Hill since my very first week. This time I went back up in great company, and then headed for a drive around a couple of coves. It was a fantastic day to be around.
I truly love my Life on The Rock. Newfoundland has a way of making you slow down just enough to appreciate what really matters, even though Life itself never seems to stop moving. As Ferris Bueller said in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
This week, I made sure to look around.
And so, north again. Twillingate was warmer than St. John’s, so warm that I went swimming. There were no more icebergs, but on the boat I watched a lot of whales.
I had a few quieter days, and I enjoyed the kind of peace that only a single man with nothing to prove can enjoy. One rare late afternoon, alone, I sat watching the sun shine over the marina. A reel about the Futurama episode “The Luck of the Fryrish” had brought me back to a song I rediscovered: “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds (1985). It stuck with me.
And I enjoyed the rest of my time there the way only a person who believes in himself can. This time, Twillingate struck a chord in me that I had no idea existed.
The final party, on Saturday night, was a blast. They ran out of milk, because somebody had made far too many White Russians, and it was not even midnight.
I think that song may become one of my favourites as the years keep passing. The number of people I have met and lost along the way is countless. Names are only labels we hang on people so we can find them in a crowd. What actually stays is the feeling: a kiss, a night, a laugh, a road trip, a sunrise on the beach. I do not need anyone to remember my name. I only hope that they never forget the way I made them feel.
So maybe it was my last time in Twillingate, and maybe it was not. But if it was, it began with fireworks, and that is more than most goodbyes get.
Don’t you forget about me.
And yes... Life is pretty amazing!
I forced myself to write this post before leaving, here in Twillingate, because I wanted it written before my road trip, with my feelings and my experiences as fresh as possible. It is Sunday, after a fantastic day on the water, and with a fun final twist that, deep down, I had hoped to find. But that is for next week’s post.
A lot can happen in a week.
Thank you, and ciao for now.
Luca Bonafede
St.John's, Twillingate, NL, Canada 🇨🇦
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