Beyond Selidor

The split between the lives we might have lived in different countries is so stark, isn't it? I was actually born in the US, but my parents decided to move back to Australia when I was a toddler, but there is another version of my life where they stayed, or went back to the US when I was a primary school-aged child, and things would have turned out so differently for me. It's really obvious in your case that your parents' decision to return to Canada caused your life to unfold in such a wonderful direction, and I'm happy for you that that was the case.

The car accident, on the other hand, is obviously a much more difficult rupture — your description of that event as a derailment seems entirely correct. What a scary thing to be dealing with at a time of your life when your future path seemed clear and full of options. And with insomia and anxiety too — life-shaping, as you say, but very difficult to live with.