“O Canada, our home and native land”

Celebrations are scaled down as the country mourns for the souls of the indigenous children, lost and forgotten so many decades ago, whose graves have now been found. As we spend the day with three of our grandchildren, we can’t imagine the pain the families must have felt when their young children went away to a residential school, never to be seen or heard from again. This is to be a day to celebrate our beautiful country, its many various cultures and the people who make this country the best place to live. One of those cultures is that of the Canadian native peoples. We have so much to learn from them, which we must do, rather than trying to erase their knowledge, beliefs, arts and language. This year we remember, we mourn, we plan to be better and to be kinder as we move toward reconciliation and a future of a unified country.