I took my children to their assigned classrooms this past Wednesday morning. When they were settled, I stopped at a table near the entrance of the school to pay the required fees.
It was then that I began to cry. I wasn’t sad that my children were back in school, nor was it the amount written on the cheque that misted my eyes.
It was the music. And something else.
As I leaned over the table to write the cheque, the principal’s voice came over the PA system welcoming students back to school. Then, as is customary each morning, our national anthem flooded the speakers.
I put my pen down and straightened as the woman taking the fees also rose to her feet and began to sing. All the parents nearby stood respectfully as O Canada filled the air. True, most of the parents weren’t actually singing, and I had to stop when the words switched to French, but I still enjoyed the music. And the feeling.
Hearing our national anthem does something to me. Stirs something inside. Uplifts my soul. Swells my heart. Could those feelings be – patriotism?
I must admit, there are times when I fear for our country, fear for the decline of patriotism in our communities. Sometimes the chitchat and lack of respect that is apparent during formal ceremonies and the singing of our anthem is disheartening. But that wasn’t the case last Wednesday.
Jane Fonda said, “When I'm in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like.” Standing there with other parents and administrators, I thought, “This is what it feels like to be part of a great country, a great community.”
I blinked back the tears and swallowed the lump in my throat as I silently added one more reason to my list of why I love this town.
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