Rigamarole - A Foot In The Crease - Episode 5.24

www.afootinthecrease.com

Our Olympic games. When will we be able to say that again? For the past seventeen days, Canada as a nation has come together in a way that it seldom has before and likely, seldom will again. This was our chance, for a fleeting period in time, to have all eyes on us, not having to compete for attention with anything else. We had to get it right and boy did we ever.

This was about far more than just medals, although Canada unquestionably did get it done in that department, this was about the chance for our nation to show the world who we really are and to make them understand why Canada is one of the best places on earth.

We showed them we were a passionate nation. Incomparable crowds on the streets of Vancouver and Whistler until well into the night, not just on the weekends but throughout all seventeen days. These crowds for the most part though, purely blissful, happy and patriotic. In recent memory, can anyone recall such an outpouring of support?

We showed we were a courageous nation. Who wasn’t deeply moved when watching figure skater Joannie Rochette skate to a bronze medal just days after her mother passed away unexpectedly? When she broke down following her short program, it was like this whole nation wanted to give her a hug.

You see, as a people, we live for these opportunities for patriotism, for camaraderie, for these chances to stand up and embrace something we can be so proud of, not just something that matters to us in our personal worlds but something that means so much to all of us collectively as a country.

Thing is though, we get so few of these moments, and even fewer where these moments take place in our own backyard. For the last seventeen days, it was almost like Canada was just letting it all out. The world noticed, our athletes, noticed, we as a nation noticed. Who doesn’t wish the magic could go on forever. But hey, all that was just rigamarole.