Good Old Hockey Ode

Of course, the largest collection of good looking men at these winter games belong on the ice and most have missing teeth.

But that's okay.

Because THEY WON GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD!!!

The cutest is Golden Boy, Sidney Crosby for that amazing shot.

It's going to be one of those things we remember our entire lives.  Like how my parents remember where they were when Canada beat the Soviet Union in 1972.

Forever I am going to know that I was among old friends who I hadn't seen in years, drinking beer and eating Tim Bits.  

When we went into overtime, I couldn't handle the pressure.  My heart rate shot up as if I just ran a mile. I went to the bathroom and did a bit of Buddhist chanting and then told the room to 'Secret' the gold.  I still couldn't calm down so I had to listen to my special Nam Myoho Renge Kyo on my iPod and do lunges in the corner.

Clearly it worked because we won!!

I love how we say 'we'.  I personally did not win.  I haven't even skated in two years and haven't played hockey since 1996.  But even then I suspect I was playing bandy.

Anyhoo, I love that WE won 14 Gold medals.  What is it about sport that unites us?  It's not as if we go to an Opera and jump up when the Sopprano hits her note.  Why is it that 8 minutes into overtime, Canadians all over the country (and world) jumped up at the same time?  We don't ordinarily celebrate achievements of others in such a crazy way.  The Oscars are next week.  And except for people like me, no one really cares. Robson won't be flooded with thousands of people chanting 'George Clooney'.

Why sport?  

Whatever the answer, I am glad for it.  There is nothing like the energy of a city and country that has just won gold in hockey.  At the closing ceremonies, Jon Furlong had to pause when he mentioned the latest medal because the entire stadium burst to their feet, screaming.  It was amazing.

I loved watching the feeds from across the country.  That moment of anticipation and then the united arms in the air mimicking Crosby.  From Nova Scotia and Toronto to the sea of red in Yaletown.  Or how about the soldiers in Kandahar?  The Engineer was in Covent Garden where hundreds of Canadians hit the streets after watching the game at the pub, and walking to Trafalgar Square.

I loved walking through Yaletown, high-fiving everyone we met, hugging cops, screaming in joyous unison.  It lasted well into the night.  After the closing ceremonies, I trekked by myself to Robson, afraid to miss out on the action.  Unfortunately the action was thousands of very drunk 20-year-old men screaming.  Granville smelled like a bar and my shoes stuck to the pavement.  Gross.

What was cool, about these inebriated youths, was when I saw a group of Punjab-Canadians.  They had full beards, turbans and were dressed head to toe in red.  They had the Punjab drum with them and would spontaneously burst into dance.  I saw this THREE times. Three separate groups of men.  Only in Canada right?

I also saw someone throw up.

We'll be telling our kids about where we were.  Where were you?

There's a little bit of Canada......

....celebrating  tonight in the Midlands - the British Midlands that is. 

Canadian medics at the University of Warwick Medical School (and a few of their British counterparts) had gathered together to watch with bated breath as THE final olympic event was played out at Canada Hockey Place. 

Judging by the wild cheering in the background of our daughter's phone call after 7 minutes of  overtime, the ex-pat audience approved of the final result. AND SO THEY SHOULD!!!!

Great performance Canada; great games Vancouver. There were plenty of critics and not a few skeptics - but the skeptics have been won over and the critics - well, they'll still be there in 2012 when the Summer Games open in London. Against all the odds, Vancouver has pulled it off.

What's the betting it snows in Vancouver next week!

The Ode

My friend Katy did a wonderful ode on Facebook during the Beijing Olympics featuring one of the best things about Olympics:  good looking men.

She didn't do it this year so I suppose it's up to me.  Here it goes.

Hot Male Athletes of Vancouver 2010

One of today's GOLD MEDALLISTS! Jasey-Jay Anderson.  The 35-year-old snowboarder known as the 'Old Man' who has been to FOUR winter olympics and finally won his gold!  Did you love the image of him holding both his kids with his medal?

Yum.

Just racing on that snowboard makes him hotter.  

And speaking of snowboards . . . .

How about Mike Robertson who won silver for snowboard cross?  Hugh Grant lookalike?  Ummm, yes.

And then of course, there is the bearded man who gets hot points for barreling down a tube of ice head first. 

Jon Montgomery

Next is the men of the broom.  Who knew curlers were such cuties? Apparently my mum.  No wonder she's been addicted to curling for so long.

Mr. John Morris ladies.  Curler by olympics, firefighter by everyday life.

Ulstred, Team Norway's skip also gets a mention.  Mostly because he is tres handsome and my mum's favorite:

Next we've got a hot speed skater, and gold medal man:  Denny Morrison.

You can feel the focus burning your soul.

My personal favorite of the games was a partner, and I couldn't find any photos of just him.  But that's okay because she's pretty hot too. It should be illegal to be this good looking and graceful as a couple:

Who does not love Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue?  AAAAAAAH!  It's almost too much how cute they are.  And did we love him on the podium belting out 'Oh Canada'?  Yes we did.

Seeing as I clearly have a thing for cute Chinese men, I can't write this entry without a shout out to our very own Patrick Chan who sort of resembles Astro Boy.  He might also be the nicest person on the planet.  And he'll be our golden boy in 2014!

And last, but certainly not least, is my favorite of all time.  True, he's not in Vancouver right now. But he has Vancouver in his name so it sort of counts.

Adam van Koeverden

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

Note:  this is not a complete list.  These winter games are full of cute boys and pretty women.  It's sick how good looking everyone is.

That Good Old Hockey Game

For those from around the world who have tuned in to watch the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, you may have noticed something:  Canadians Love Hockey.

Love?

Is that the right word?

It's more like a feeling in our core.  This thing we all feel akin to.  A sport that bonds each and every Canadian in some way.

Me?  Yeah, I like the game.  I'm not a fanatic like others (Tara), but I like it.  You see, if I let myself watch it too closely, I can get slightly obsessed.  Sort of like these Olympics.  I get too emotionally involved.

Like every other Canadian, I know.

But it's not a good scene.

When the Flames lost in game 7 during the Stanley Cup play-offs in 2004, I was in London.  I called my parents balling from a red phone booth.  I walked down those cobblestoned streets sobbing my eyes out. My American roomates/classmates had no idea what was wrong with me.  A game right?

Secondly, I am a Flames fan.  The Engineer is an Oilers fan (if you are American, this is like Yankees/Redsox).  Our truly bad fight a few years back involved these two teams.  I insisted the Engineer leave my house.  Forever.

Over hockey.

This crazy sport on ice really does touch almost every citizen.  Everyone has a story.

Take the Engineer.  Not unlike this Tim Horton's commercial,




he wasn't allowed to play hockey as a little boy.  So what does he do now?  Plays hockey.  His friend moved here from India in high school. He never saw snow, let alone ice, in his life.  He's been spending these last few years learning how to play that good old hockey game.



The good man I spoke of a few entries ago who passed away was my dad's cousin.  My dad grew up on a farm in rural Alberta.  When I commented that Alex had always been 'husky' my dad smiled and told me that they used to put him in goal hoping not many pucks would get past his size.  This made me smile.  I could just see these farm boys running to the outdoor rink after doing their farm chores, for a game of twilight hockey (at 3pm).

And that's what hockey is.

A game that every boy played.  From crude ice skate rinks made by dads in the backyard, to frozen ponds, to the community centre - every boy I grew up with played the sport.  And sometimes we did too.  But I didn't skate, I preferred to run on my pics hoping to keep up.  To this day, when I walk into a community centre and that smell of ice, equipment and hot chocolate hits me, I am taken back to Friday nights in high school.  They were spent cheering on the team your crush played for.  For me, that was the St. Boniface Seals.

Tomorrow it doesn't matter if you're a Flames, Oilers or Canucks fan.  What matters is that you are a Canadian fan.  And we'll be watching, all 36 million of us, as our boys bring gold to where it belongs.  The girls already did!

For those of you who don't get us Canadians and our hockey obsession, check out the man who sang it best:  Stompin' Tom Connors.




www.bridesmaiddiaries.com

The Eve of the End

Tomorrow night Vancouver's flame goes out.

To put it dramatically.

But it's true!  I can't believe how fast these 16 days have gone.  I can't believe how fast these past few years have gone actually.  It seems like just yesterday when the announcement was made.  Wait, nevermind.  They've been working on that Sea to Sky Highway and the Canada Line forever.  God, all that work for SIXTEEN days that have gone by in a blink!

I'm not sure what I expected these past two weeks to be like, but they definitely have exceeded my expectations.  Does that make sense?

At first, I didn't think this city was really that busy.  "Like Midtown on a Monday" I told the Engineer. Which is pretty much what it's like:  Time's Square on Robson Street.  A New York Times journalist went so far as to say "Vancouver is Manhattan with mountains".

It is busy.  I love keeping my window open at night so I can listen to the screaming drunks shouting about how great Canada is.  I love walking down Robson through the sea of red.  I love the fact that on every corner, at every time of day, people with flags from all over the world are smiling and happy.

It's official:  I am going to miss Vancouver 2010.

What is Vancouver without the 2010 behind it?  We've been working up to these 16 days for 7 years.  What's going to happen on Monday?

We go back to normal?

Ugh.

The biggest story right now in Canada is how these Olympics have changed our nation.  Michael Brunt says it best in this video.  They started out tragically.  Then there were some glitches and failures.  But it never dampened the Canadian spirit.

Across this country, 27 million citizens tuned in for the opening ceremonies.  21 million for the Canada/US game #1.  Over 3 million Canadians are wearing those coveted red mittens complete with maple leaf palms.  Everyone has worn red and white everyday.  We've cried, we've shouted, we've hugged, we've celebrated, and, most significantly, we've shown the world who we truly are.

We're nice, polite, loving, supporting, grateful, enthusiastic, ambitious, determined.  We're proud.

One of our athletes lost her mother two days before her skate.  The whole nation felt her pain and cried when she did.  The whole nation wishes Virtue and Moir would fall in love already and make good-looking skating babies.  The whole nation walked through Whistler with Jon Montgomery.  The whole nation was just as proud as Frederick when Alexandre became the first Canadian to win gold on our own soil.  The whole nation is going to be sitting on the edge of their seats tomorrow for the biggest game in Hockey history (is that possible?).  (Note:  I capitalized Hockey).

We may have been shy about it at first, or apologized for having such an ambitious program called 'Own the Podium" (umm, every country has that BTW), but as of tonight, we have made Olympic history.  We now have earned the most gold medal's this Winter Games, we've earned the most a host city has ever earned, and we broke our own record.  We might even break another record tomorrow.

Tonight I saw the Indian luge athlete telling the Queen Elizabeth theatre (full of the Vancouver Punjab community who had banded together to pay for the Indian athlete's uniforms when they couldn't afford them) how lucky we were to live in a country where it is okay to be both Punjab and Canadian.  Where everybody respects everybody.

That's what we're showing the world.

I always believed we were the best nation in the world.

Do you believe?

Go for the Gold, or Fourth Place

Have you heard of the 'Own the Podium' program that Canada created for its 2010 athletes?  The goal of Vancouver 2010 was to be the overall winner of the games with the highest medal count.

Well, we probably won't be owning the podium this time round.  We've heard American snowboarders saying, 'Canadians might own the podium, but we'll be borrowing it for 2010'.  We've heard criticism from competing countries.  We've even heard our own team blaming the program for their losses in speed-skating.

Obviously it would be super awesome wicked to see Canada up there with 25 medals, but at the end of the day, does it really matter.   And if so, to whom?

The IOC counts the 'Olympic Winner' as the one with the most golds. Well guess what?  We have 6, with Germany and the US only one gold ahead of us.

And even without winning the most golds, I am pretty sure for us, these Olympics have been pretty golden.  Alexandre Bilodeau winning the first gold on Canadian soil with his brother by his side. Virtue and Moir winning the first Canadian (actually North American) gold in Ice Dancing and bumping those pouting Russians off the podium.  And just a few minutes ago, Ashleigh McIvor won the first gold in women's Ski Cross - EVER!

Those are just the golds.  We have silvers and we have bronzes too.

And if they gave medals to the top 10 in all the events, Canada would definitely be owning the podium.  Sure, getting fourth probably doesn't feel as good as getting bronze, but it's fourth!  IN THE WORLD!  

Melissa Hollingsworth tearfully apologized to messing up her heat and losing a medal.  Ummm, you came in fifth Ms. Hollingsworth.  You came fifth in the world in a sport where you are going 140km/hour head first on ICE!  

Heck, I can't even slide down a toboggan run properly!    Delsbosco came 4th in ski cross - he was trying for second but ended up falling and winding up fourth.  Meh. He beat ALL the other competitors to make it to that final.  And even though he fell, he still finished his race.  Isn't that the message Olympics should be sending home?  That even when you fall, you stand tall and proud and finish the race? 

Davey Barr came  in 6th in that same event.  Sixth out of 33 - and two days before he wasn't even good enough to be on the Canadian team!  He made it because two other skiers got injured and now he's SIXTH in the world!

Canadians focus solely on our losses.  Well, that's what it seems like in the press.  The weekend wasn't great.  Sure, we lost in hockey.  To the Americans.  But our women are still kicking ass.  And when it comes to curling - our teams are kicking BUTT!  Maybe we should focus on the other most played ice sport in Canada.  

The Olympics shouldn't be about medals and winning.  What about sportsmanship? I know that is a very Canadian viewpoint, but it's  good viewpoint.

Take yesterdays ice dancing win.  When the final numbers were up, and the gold was awarded to Moir/Virtue - did they gloat?  No, they thanked Canada for all their support.  What did their biggest competition and training buddies do? (who are American) They rushed up to their friends with tears in their eyes congratulating them.  And not that fake, 'I'm so happy for you' (not), White/Davis were genuinely happy for their friends.  It was amazing.  I cried.

The Russians, on the other hand, continue to be bad sports.  From having ex-presidents write VANOC complaining that our judges are corrupt and our Olympics are horrible all because your greasy-haired skater didn't get gold?  

(reminder Russia:  it's because of your corruption in the 2002 Olympics that sent figure skating into a whole new points system and put cheaters like you in the spotlight) 

To the ice dancers pouting on the bronze podium in their ridiculous outfits and tacky make-up.  Maybe if they hadn't offended Australia, Russia would have had a chance.  Nah.  The Canadians really did rock it.

The other amazing thing about the Olympics is family.  I adore watching the family of athletes cheering on their loved one - winning OR losing.  When Scott jumped up to hug his crying brothers and they lifted him off his feet?  Crying.  Maelle's mom waving her flag, her cheek covered in maple leaves?  Crying.  We are really seeing how family makes these athletes who they are.  Joannie Rochette has to skate today, after losing her mum only a few days ago.  I feel that with the knowledge of her mum watching over her, and feeling the support of our entire nation, she will do her best ever skate.


The most incredible thing about these Olympics, I feel, is how this city feels.  For once, everyone is happy.  Even in the rain. People are smiling, talking to each other.  We are all proud of our Canadian team.  Heck, we're excited about every athlete we see.  We're making friends with people all over the world.  We've joined together as one nation, proud, strong and happy - in our wins and losses.

And in the end, isn't that the real gold?  Cue 'After School Special' music . . . . .

I Think I'm Turning Portuguese, I Really Think So!

I am in an inter-racial relationship. 


And as it turns out, so is my friend.


Except in my case, my fiance is Chinese.  In her case, her boyfriend is Portuguese.


Inter-racial you ask?  Well, maybe that is going too far.  But after spending a night with her at a Portuguese dance, I realized that although we are from Europe, we are not at all the same.


We stand out like Babylon whores, as my friend points out.


I'm not sure about that.  But we do stand out.  Partly from our pale skin and light hair, and partly because we towered over all the Portuguese people by about a foot.


British people are not exactly a tight knit community sort of people.  Sure, back in  gay ole England they are in pubs bonding over the common lack of dental care.  


But here?  It's not like we stick together keeping our culture alive and reminiscing about the 'old country'.  I do my part:  I drink tea and watch Corrie on CBC.


But Portuguese people really keep their traditions alive.  So do Italians, Greeks, Arabics, Chinese, and the list goes on.  I think it must only be us.


So here we were, two tall blonde girls, at a Portuguese Valentine's Day dance.  In a gym.  Connected to a church.  And one of us was wearing leopard print to be 'ethnic' (I'll let you guess who).


This is the deal:  you pay $40 and get all-you-can-eat-and-drink.  The gym is decorated in the fashion of a prairie hall wedding:  pink paper hearts, streamers, doilies.  There is no mood lighting for dinner. Nope, the lights are bright so we get full view of Uncle Jesepe's hairy chest and gold cross.


The food is DELICIOUS!  We had Portuguese buns, of which I had two.  Then soup with sausage, kale, potatoes, carrots and other yummy things.  Then salad.  Then rice with a seafood platter.

Oh the seafood platter.  I helped myself to fried sole with a special hot sauce.  As well as several mussels and peel-your-own shrimp.  When I realized it was 'all you can eat' I may have gone a little mental.  I finished off our platter, then the boys' platter, and then we ordered another platter!  My plate was round with shrimp debris.  I was such a graceful eater.  I went through about 20 napkins, was licking my fingers and dropped lettuce down my dress.

We were still not done.  Next came platters of roast potatoes, chicken and beef.  Followed by cheesecake.  I did not like the cheesecake.  But possibly because I was a Portuguese bun myself at this point.

All the while we are having endless bottles of red wine.


I love Portuguese people!


When dinner was finished, the lights dimmed (finally.  I had shrimp guts on my dress) to announce the beginning of the dance.


Everybody danced.


To this polka-ish Portuguese music played on keyboards and an accordion.  Who doesn't love an accordion?  


The floor was full of husbands and wives who have been together so long they both resembled potatoes (you know that way old people do).  Mothers making their daughters spin them on the floor (and I don't mean 12-year old girls.  I mean middle-aged daughters).  Kids twirling around the feet of the adults.  Really old grandpa's dancing with any woman who would say yes - not because they were being pervy, but because they missed dancing with their wives.  It was amazing.  

K and I just bobbed on the outskirts.  


We were very popular.  Men would come up to us, some wearing shirts with a glittering Jesus faces on the front, others with low-buttoned shirts showing off their hairy chest glory.  One man got so excited talking to us, his fake tooth popped out and landed on K's shoe.


You must think I am being conceited right now.  I'm not.  This is just what happens when you are the foreign fish in a pond.  All the other fish are fascinated by your presence.

Firstly, they would all ask if we were Portuguese. Obviously not.  But they wanted to be polite.  


Then they asked if we were sisters.  The only resemblance being our deathly pale complexions and yellow hair (maybe it's like that thing us white people have with Asians:  they all look the same to us).  


Then they would recount the reasons why they love Canada and why being Portuguese is awesome.


It was not only the first time I had been in a gym since 1996, but it was the first time I had ever been the popular girl at a dance in a gym in my life.  It was like being prom queen.


Which set up the Portuguese wives hating us. Again, K referred to us as Babylon whores.  Or it could be the fact we don't speak the language (well, I sort of do.  I can say 'thank you' in Portuguese, which is what I said to anyone who talked to me).  


But whatever the reason, those wives disliked our presence.  Tooth man tried to introduce us to his wife.  She glared at us and pulled him away.  Yes lady, that's right.  Us outsiders have snuck into your party to steal your toothless husband.  We prowl all the European community centres looking for men from the 'old country'.  


K finally convinced me to dance with her boyfriend, who twirled me around the room to said Portuguese polka music.  But after my pound of prawn, the spin around the room made me want to vomit.  In fact, without the food I would probably want to vomit.  Those Portuguese really like to twirl!


The dancers kept going late into the night.  It was fun watching them.  They are all about 5'2'', and were shaped like little apples.  They were dressed in their finest and having the time of their life.


From the outside, we can tease communities like this for their brightly dyed blonde hair that is a tad too yellow, or the skin-tight dresses and open shirts.  But what we might fail to see is that this community sticks together through thick and thin.  They all enjoy seeing each other.  Smiles are bright and genuine.  And once they get around the Babylon whore shock, they sure are open to letting us join in on their community.  


If only for one night.

Butch Cassidy and K.D. Lang

A friend commented on my latest blog entry (via Facebook, the only comments I get here are to get a larger 'area down there' for men) regarding how she too felt proud to be Canadian after the Opening Ceremonies. Except when it came to K.D. Lang.  Said friend currently lives in London, and apparently when she went to work the next day everyone asked who the 'bloke in the ill-fitting suit' was.  My friend wished David Aitkins had chosen Shania.

But here's what I have to say about that Miss L :)

I am proud proud proud that I come from a country where same-sex marriage is legal and recognized.  There are so few nations in the world who can say this, and NONE, except Canada, in North America.

Choosing K.D. Lang was a bold move, I agree.  It would have been easy to showcase Shania or Celine.  But what about one of our most talented singers?  No one can deny that voice.  She brought Canada to its knees. And yes, she wore a suit.  And yes, she resembles a man.

But she made us cry.

She made the room I was in stand-up and applaud.

And more importantly, she probably inspired a girl or boy out there afraid to be what they really are.  She proved that it might not always be the most popular choice to go against society, but when you truly are who you are, you can move a nation.  If you're really good, the world

The Brits can take that and stuff it up their snooty asses.




For those who wondered about Leonard Cohen, he is recovering from a back injury.  He told David Atkins that it doesn't get better than K.D. Lang

My Home and Native Land

The time has come friends.  Vancouver 2010 is finally here!

I remember finding out we got the Olympics way back in 2002, or was it 2003?  Anyways, it's been a long time.  And I thought, 'wow, 2010 is soooo long away - I will totally be married with kids by then and watching all the events because I will be famous'.

Plans have clearly changed.

Meh.

My apartment is situated right in the mix of things too - so it's extra exciting!  This is the view of athlete's village from my house:

And this is my house from the sky:

Clearly I stole this photo from Sports Illustrated.  And clearly I don't know how to use photo shop to draw a circle around my house - but I can tell you that right of BC Place (that white thing, home of the opening ceremonies), is a smaller white thing (the hockey place), and right of that is a clump of five high rise condo buildings.  I am in the middle/front of that clump.  Good location right?

Anyhoo, they are finally here and this city is swarming with people from all over the world.

I was lucky enough to go to the dress rehearsal of the opening ceremonies, which put me in the mood for the games.  And it was just as amazing watching it on Friday with my friends and family (albeit without the falling snow or leaves).  We were asked not to spill the beans about what we had witnessed so that no secrets could be revealed.  So of course I immediately called my mum to tell her about Sarah Mchlachlan.  The Engineer hung up on me because I kept saying, 'and then' 'and then' 'and then'.

Lesson here?  Don't ask the worst ever secret keeper to keep a huge world secret!

The Olympics leave me an emotional wreck.  Refer to a post back in the time of Bejing.  When men's hockey won gold WAY back in 2002, I hid under a table for most of the night because I can't handle the excitement/suspense.  It's as if I prefer to watch the games after I know we have won/lost.  That way, when a Canadian Cowboy falls in front of the grandfather that taught him how to ski, I won't fall to my knees and cry for him.

Am I a freak?

I emailed David Atkins after the opening ceremony 'glitch' to let him know that I hoped he wasn't sad because it was an amazing show.

Yup, I'm a freak.

When I was studying my acting degree, our teachers said time and again, artists and athletes are the same.  We both need to train, practise, focus, sacrifice normal lives, etc.  So maybe when I see an athlete fall and ruin their chances I recall a particularly bad audition.  Or when they win, I know that feeling when your agent calls to tell you that you booked the part.  Granted, not a gold medal part.  But receiving something to show for all your hard work is all one and the same right?

I watched us win our first gold in a crowd of people on Robson Street.  I like how I say 'our', when it was Alexandre Bilodeau who actually worked hard to get it.  Being around hundreds of screaming Canadians made me feel like I come from the best country ever.

Oh god, and with his brother in the stands?  I was a ball of mush.

Back to the opening ceremonies, I know not everyone enjoyed it, yes you L.L., but I was so extremely proud to be a Canadian.  W.O. Mitchell combined with Donald Sutherland's voice?  Ummm, yes.  That quote, I can't find it, but it's really what it feels like to be from the prairies.  K.D. Lang?  AAAAAAAAAAH  Chills!  Orcas swimming across the floor, complete with blowholes?  Totem poles growing from the ground?

When Wayne Gretzky jumped in the back of a pick-up to drive through the streets of Vancouver, you knew you were really in Canada.  I loved the waiters running out of restaurants to catch a glimpse of the Great One.  That is a dream, for anyone who was a kid in the eighties.

 I am from this amazing country.  This amazing province.  It has orcas, and totem poles, and fields of blowing wheat.

And that no matter where in the world I might end up, I will never lose my maple leaf pride.  Just ask my American friends who went to RADA with me, I think I told everyone I was Canadian everyday.  Especially when the profs would try to correct my 'American' ways.

I am Canadian.  And proud of it.  Except for that rendition of 'Oh Canada'.  I was not proud of that.

Of course, the ceremonies gave a lovely moment of recognition to the tragedy that happened earlier that day.  Nadar Khokhobashvili.  I truly hope all the athletes take on John Furlong's message to carry his memory and inspiration through the games.  I know us spectators will.

I will leave you with one of my most favorite moments of the night.

Go Canada!

A Good Man

Just yesterday, I lost a very lovely man in my family.

My father's cousin passed away suddenly and quietly.  It was a complete shock to all of us, especially as we were headed to his home for the day in White Rock.

As we are a small family, even our 'second cousins' are close, so his passing is a very sad thing for us.  My parents and I headed to White Rock to be with his wife and children (who are not children anymore, and haven't been for a long time, but you are always someone's baby right?).

It was my father's job to call everyone back in Alberta to alert them of his death.  As he was making calls, he noted that news would travel fast using the 'farm morse code'.  This is what I love about where we all come from.  Gossip, good or bad, travels fast.  People come out in droves bearing squares and dainties.  And the community always bands together.

Like me, Alec was really proud to be from a farm in Alberta.  Even though he left at a young age to become an Engineer; he always knew our rural community was home.  And in true prairie fashion, he passed away while eating breakfast, about to head out for a game of curling.

His sister-in-law, a recent widow herself, talked about how lucky I was to be entering this stage in my life.  She said she would give anything to be back in her youth, in love, and planning her wedding - planning her life really.  She said this time is so magical.  All the women agreed.  I choked up.  She told me to treasure these moments because life can be taken away when you least expect it.  We take each other for granted, but someday, as she put it, you will lose what feels like your right arm.

It's a lesson I hope we can all think about.  As we grow older, and our weddings are over, our children are grown, to look at our partners and try to remember that fleeting feeling of falling in love.

In my case, I thought about my own dad.  Here my cousins are, adults, but losing a constant in their life. So I hugged my dad, awkwardly.  Who then told me he might die of cancer.  Not that he has it, he just could.  My mum told him he has terrible timing.

I think Alec was full of lessons. In life and death.  In his life, he worked hard and showed loyalty to one company for over forty years.  In retirement, he lived everyday fully, even with the diabetes that led to yesterday.  He curled, lawn bowled, played bridge, and traveled the world. In fact, he just got home from Hawaii last week.  Instead of moping in his older years, he embraced retirement joyfully.

In death, his lesson is to love your spouse, no matter how grouchy he gets.  Or how much she nags.

And to give your dad a hug.