My Watermark story begins in the year 2018 with Lake Ontario in Lake Shore, Etobicoke. It April 2018 when it was finally time to move to the big city Toronto, after spending around 1.5 years in Windsor in Southern Ontario. It was a move I was dreading because I was doing this move all on my own, single-handedly in my 2003 Honda Accord, when I had very little driving experience in Canada. During that period of 1.5 years, I had become so comfortable with the small-town vibe of Windsor that I was not sure how was I going to tackle the life of a big city. After all, Toronto was going to be the biggest city I had ever lived in.

My move to Toronto was dictated by just one thing- a full-time job opportunity. The moment I got a full-time opportunity I packed my stuff and started my journey of the 401 highway. The day I arrived in Toronto I did not have accommodation. For the first 7 days, I crashed on a friend's couch. That friend of mine lived on Lake Shore Blvd. West which runs right by the shores of Lake Ontario; stretches from somewhere in Oakville, Mississauga, Etobicoke to all the way to downtown Toronto.

In a nutshell, Lake Ontario was my first experience in Toronto. In the midst of all the stress and anxiety of moving to a big city and finding affordable accommodation, the shores of Lake Ontario became a sanctuary of mental peace. Living alone in this new city where I knew very few people, I looked up to Lake Ontario for all the answers to my confusions. I realized that somehow magically I could find answers to a lot of my problems just by silently staring into the horizon of the lake. In times of happiness or sorrow, Lake Ontario was always there to share it with me.

Another reason why I am so deeply attached to Lake Ontario is that right beside I leased my own apartment where I have been living since 2018. The first-ever apartment that I can call my own, my place, my house. Living just two minutes away from this lake in an amazing neighborhood I have evolved into a nature-loving individual with a high sense of community. I can never be thankful enough to the Lake, the community, and the neighborhood for guiding me through the journey of adulthood.

Then hit 2020, the pandemic, the WFH followed by the lockdown. When, everything around was shut down and everyone was unavailable Lake Ontario was a friend for everything; my evening coffee date, my morning workout partner, my Sunday picnic brunch partner.