Community Pride

Last night we bundled up and went outside to watch the Olympic torch make a stop in our tiny Alberta town on its way to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic games. I'm generally too cynical to be termed patriotic, but there was a real excitement in the air as we all waited eagerly for the convoy of buses to arrive with the designated runner bearing the torch. My mom made the 25 minute drive for the festivities, and brought my teenage nieces, who kindly entertained my young kids until the torch arrived.

We got our free hot dogs and cokes from our beloved town Grocer, and as I munched I looked around and saw many familiar faces in the crowd. We've lived here for just over 3 years, and I realized last night that it's no small thing to feel as though you belong somewhere. That is a hard-won privilege. The first 18 months of living in this town was like an uphill hike where there's simply not enough oxygen to go around. Everyone was friendly but not my friend. I had to push hard to turn acquaintances into buddies. But last night I looked around the sea of faces and found more I genuinely knew than ones I didn't. Like anything, I saw people I love, those I like, some I tolerate and a few I cross the street to avoid, but I felt warm and happy in the minus 2 temperatures because these have become my people. I fit, I belong, I matter to this community and they matter to me, and that is a commodity which cannot be bought or sold; its value is beyond estimation.

When the buses came and the runner suddenly appeared, sprinting down the street in the shiny white Olympic track suit, I found myself ridiculously excited, like a child who experiences emotion in the body instead of the mind. The runner came to the small stage area in front of our Community Hall, and as the next torch was lit for a new runner, the crowd began to sing Oh Canada. No microphones. No organized structure. Just singing from the heart, the sort of pure patriotism that cannot be mandated, but when experienced by a group, creates its own joyful power that surges through like a current, binding everyone together. It was extraordinary.

I'm so thrilled my kids got to be part of such a stirring community event. Before last night, I was frustrated that the winter Olympics were going to interrupt my February TV schedule. Now I want to cheer on my country, to let my pride at being Canadian spill over out of me and carry us to victory. I am beyond grateful to live in my town, among such great friends, and to live in a free and beautiful nation, at this exact moment in history.(Thanks to Eryn for the great pics that I lifted from FB as I didn't upload mine yet! :)