“Gramma makes us sing Oh Canada ALL the time.” My darling grand daughter complained to her mother one day. She was only about 2 at the time and she was right – Gramma did make her sing Oh Canada a lot – it’s one of my favorite songs, a real top ten hit.
I’ve always admired the enthusiastic patriotism Americans exhibit – the flag waving, anthem singing nation to the south makes no bones about their love of country. It’s interesting that we celebrate both our country’s birthdays mere days apart. Canada ushers in a new year with polite applause while our American cousins loose their collective minds over theirs.
In 2010, at the Winter Olympics, a wave of pride swept our Nation in such a fashion that it made headlines around the world. Canadians were stepping up and out with an exuberance I had never seen before. We were singing our anthem in the streets; flying our flags anywhere we could find a pole – we were almost positively American about it! And it felt great!
I am SO proud to be a Canadian – never more so than in the world we live in today. Canada’s polite reserve can only benefit the planet. Our calm and cooler demeanor is serving us well. So well, in fact, we often don’t make the front page of newspapers in our own country! We are rarely the lead story on the CBC National News at night. It seems we seldom rock our own world. And that’s not a bad thing.
Recently at a hockey game in Edmonton the microphone failed at the moment the American National Anthem was about to be sung – the crowd was already on their feet, hats in hand. With barely a moment’s pause, Edmonton Oilers fans broke out in song. In voices, loud and clear, they belted out the Star Spangled Banner. Now this… this made the news. Canadians were behaving like ….. like Canadians.
We are gearing up to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary of confederation. There are events planned around the country. Maple Leafs are flying proudly everywhere. Canadians are wearing their pride politely on their sleeves. And all three of my little girls know ALL the words to Oh Canada.
Happy Birthday country of mine! (The kids already know all the words to that little ditty too.)