Oh Canada!

Hearing the national anthem on Canada Day still stirs up one of my oldest memories.

I arrived into this wonderful land as a small child on a large boat. The first memory of my new country was pulling into the Halifax harbour, seeing the little colourful homes teetering on a hill. Like doll-sized homes, in yellow, pink, green and blue, cute enough to want to reach out and touch. Did real people live in there?

I have only vague recollections of what was involved in a move that would take my parents around the world to a new country, leaving behind everything they had known.


My 19 day voyage is only a blur. I was in the fold of adults, and had a play-mate on board (all that really matters when you're five years old), she was the daughter of the captain. I do remember seeing a ship pass somewhere in the ocean, lit up like fairyland and arrived in Canada on my birthday.

Hearing the anthem yesterday, on Canada Day, or almost every time actually, can bring me to the brink of tears. I have been known to discreetly wipe my eyes at a school function and even at a hockey game, much to the chagrin of my children. How different my life would have been had I not been in Canada.

Canada has been incredibly good to me. It has brought many delightful, surprises with its beauty from coast to coast, and a land so filled with cheerful, warm-hearted people (in spite of some of our frigid temperatures). It is a land that has offered countless others every opportunity to embrace a healthy, learning and safe environment.

So yes, I did shed a tear yesterday and felt just like I did when I saw those little houses perched high up on a hill.