Canada Day is almost upon us, and will forever be linked in my mind to the start of a new chapter in my life. It was on July 1, 1988 that I left Scotland with my Canadian wife, a few belongings and our Scottish Beagle, and immigrated to this new country. I can still remember seeing fireworks down below, as we made the final approach into Pearson airport in Toronto. I had no idea that a major celebration was going on, let alone what that celebration might be. All I knew was that I was feeling very mixed emotions, the excitement of a new start, and the sadness of leaving my life and family back home.
Well, that was a long time ago. A positive tidal wave of water has gone under the proverbial bridge since then. There have been many changes of career, changes of location, and of course the family losses that time inevitably brings. I have known great success and dismal failure, ups and downs, highs and lows, but every single year, the return of Canada Day causes me personal reflection on the direction my life has taken, and the myriad life changes that the move to this land represented. Yes, that's what Canada Day means to me.
What does it mean to you? This July 1, what will you think about or experience? Will you use it as an excuse to party until you drop, leaving only a sore head the next morning to account for your celebration? Many will do exactly that, it is their choice, but it would not be mine. Will you elect to spend the day with friends and family, luxuriating in time spent with people you care about? Will you build memories that you actually will recall in later years? Will you allow yourself the re-creation of recreation?
However you spend the day, I hope it is a good one for you. I hope that you'll take a moment to consider the blessings we have in this country of ours, for those blessings are indeed many, and they far outweigh the negatives we might be tempted to come up with. So here are a few things to consider.
We live in a country that is free. That is an amazing blessing right there. We have the right to vote or not vote, we have the right to express our opinions, and the freedom to generally live where we want and how we want, given the guidelines of ethics, morality and legality. There are many places in this world where such freedoms simply do not exist, and many new Canadians can attest to that from bitter personal experiences. Freedom is precious.
We live in a country that is growing. This is still a pioneer land with great opportunity for personal and economic development. We may think that we have an old country when we view a century farm, but from my European perspective, that's nothing compared to a 10th century castle. Canada is still pushing the frontier, we are still finding new resources, and we are still re-inventing our national identity. As a nation we're still coming to grips with the relationship of all of the settlers to he original inhabitants of this land, and it really is not that long ago that the homesteads of the west were first created, and the great railway lines laid down. There is yet adventure in our pioneering land.
And we live in a country that is globally respected. Canada still has a reputation of being a land where freedoms and rights are respected, where peace is practiced and kept, and where tolerance is a way of life. There are countries that have lost that reputation, countries that were once the home of freedom that are now seen by some as warmongering and belligerent, there are flags you don't want to wear on your backpack when you travel overseas, unless you want to become a target.
Canada Day... It's a day of memories and celebration, a day of families and fun, a day of freedom and appreciation. May you have a good one, eh?
