At this time of year, many people seem to be working extra hard to present smiley faces and positive attitudes.
The days are shorter, darkness comes earlier, and the temperatures are slowly sliding down, down, down.
The beautiful and effulgent autumn maple leaves are mostly off the trees, bagged and ready to be collected by big trucks for the annual, very organized disposal.
So here we are, then. From Niagara-on-the-Lake to Hong Kong and eventually to Toronto, the word “love” has suddenly been added to our vocabulary.
And it happened so naturally, so quietly. Not scripted and rolled out by communications professionals. Real people sharing how love makes such a difference in their lives.
Please bear with me as I ramble in several directions, including the demonstration in front of the Queen’s Landing Hotel the day after Remembrance Day. Many of us were wearing “Free Jimmy Lai now” buttons.
Amnesty International had hastily put together a totally grassroots event here in NOTL to coincide with the meeting of G7 foreign ministers.
Those of us at the rally hoped our message would somehow find its way to the world leaders who were in our town. Their whereabouts was the best-kept secret in town, but hopefully our humble efforts were effective and will make a difference.
I was shocked and, quite honestly, proud to see so many people who wanted to send a message of love to Jimmy Lai.
An extraordinary number of people, from an amazing cross-section of our Niagara population, had made the big effort to participate. At the urging of the Amnesty International organizer, we “marched” from the corner of King and Queen through Simcoe Park to the Queen’s Royal Hotel.
It was easy to tell it was the first time chanting a message for many of us. We stood a bit self-consciously in front of the hotel, hoping against hope that our message would get to the political leaders and journalists inside.
Jimmy Lai’s niece, local resident Erica Lepp, made a short speech and said, “My uncle loves this town — and today we can really feel the love.”
He founded Apple Daily, a Hong Kong newspaper that espouses democracy and everyone’s right to freedom of speech.
The Lai family owns many things, including Vintage Hotels here in NOTL, and Erica mentioned that his driving principle, both personally and professionally, revolves around love.
He has been in solitary confinement for over five years, and somehow still makes a global statement.
Niece Erica believes NOTL’s message of love will get to her uncle, and was so grateful for the overwhelming support. “The turnout has blown my mind.”
For what it’s worth, my small-town mind was also blown away. If many people each do a little, great accomplishments are possible.
Now, ramble with me to a much lighter level of love.
What an unexpected treat to have been a tangential part of the Toronto Blue Jays run to the World Series.
And to hear so many grown-up and mostly overpaid men talking about how the players on this team really and truly loved one another.
The most super superstars and the players at the end of the roster, they all “loved coming to the ballpark every day.”
The Blue Jays bandwagon got wonderfully crowded awfully fast once they made the postseason. Their determined bi-coastal run in the city and then Seattle before confronting the favoured Los Angeles Dodgers was joyful.
We never stopped believing and loving. Unabashedly, these hardened professional baseball players hugged each other and repeated the word love.
Personally, with the recent emphasis on professional sports gambling, I have lost most of my enthusiasm for the top levels of many sports. But “Attaboys” to the Blue Jays. Despite their weird and rather unlikeable owner, Edward Rogers, this was a team to love. Undeniable attitude, and such talent.
So many different players making big plays in different ways. And whether it was a fringe role player or a superstar making too many millions of dollars, it was obvious everyone loved being part of this team.
Ultimately, our Toronto Blue Jays came second. Yes, Canada’s team didn’t win. Typically, we Canadians from coast to coast were so classy in defeat. All of us on the baseball bandwagon had loved the ride.
Despite the current geopolitical issues between America and Canada, we all loved watching the World Series.
A few days after Game 7, the National Post ran a three-page feature article headlined “Whoa Canada.” It said, “On the surface, our national anthem is a simple song to perform, but get ‘O Canada’ wrong, or alter its lyrics, and controversy is sure to follow.”
Three full pages about ‘O Canada.’ What a country to live in.
I love being a Canadian.
