By Sheri Monk
When I woke up Sunday morning, I’m pretty sure I was going to write angrily about the 40 new Super WalMarts being built this year. Or, I was going to rant about Animal Planet’s promo encouraging viewers to eat less beef.
But then we played the U.S. and after that, I could have had to stay up all night writing outside, naked in the melting snow and I wouldn’t have complained.

So, if anyone had any bad news to tell me, Sunday would have been a perfect time.
“Mom? I accidentally coloured the carpet with Tyler’s oil paints.”
That’s ok son, I don’t have time to vacuum and new carpet isn’t very expensive anyway.
THAT’S how happy I was.

I have never, ever been so proud to be Canadian in my entire life. And it’s just because of the 14 – FOURTEEN – gold medals we won. It’s not just because we won gold in men and women’s hockey.
Even a few of my American friends sat up and took notice of their neighbor to the south. What is it about Canada, they asked, that makes us so friendly and so open?
An American journalist currently working in Iraq said, “Canada is on my list of places to go after deployment. Any suggestions on a place? I like the idea of being somewhere I’m not worried about being shot.”

On the surface, that’s hilarious. But if you look deeper, there’s a bit more meaning to his desire.
In Canada, we take pride in our doughnut and soda-pop commercials. We complain to one another about the cold, but boast of our hardiness to the world. Amongst ourselves, we bicker about having two official languages, yet in international circles, we herald it as one of our most unique traits.

Depending on the political year, Quebec or Alberta may want to separate from this great nation. Publicly, we cherish our wide open spaces, but we argue over the impact of the oil sands. And yet, probably all of us, deep down, would rescue a kitten form a tree or raise a litter of orphaned raccoons.

We are sometimes accused of lacking the same rich history that older countries brag of. But we do. And at the Opening Ceremonies, we saw evidence of this as we adopted this history through the honouring and inclusion of our First Nations in the special celebration. Perhaps it’s a sign of maturity, of healing, of growth. Whatever it is, it’s fantastic.

That Tim Horton’s commercial? With the African immigrant meeting his family at the airport with winter coats? That made me tear up. And that’s not the only Tim Horton’s commercial ever to get me, either.

The patriotic beer commercials? They inspire me to take pride in our capacity for consuming vast amounts of alcohol. Indeed, should that ever become a sanctioned Olympic event, I may even qualify to be an athlete. The Coca-cola commercial with the hockey scenes, the goals, the crowds? It brought a smile to my lips every time I heard it. During the Olympics, my youngest son wanted me to sing him our national anthem before bed, instead of our usual song.
Reading the blogs of Americans in Canada covering the games, I beamed when I read how well-thought of we are. How polite and friendly we are.
So, who are we and what do we stand for?

During the closing ceremonies, we featured giant, blow-up beavers and flying moose and gorgeous women dressed in sexy Mountie outfits. That is Canada. I love that we have a sense of humour, that we can laugh at ourselves.

I love that Canada is a beacon of hope to those around the world. I love that we welcome immigrants and I always will, provided these new Canadians will love this country as much as I do.
I love that around the world, the Canadian flag is a symbol of friendship. I love being strong and for that we need a well-supported military. But I love even more that our military is known for peacekeeping, not war mongering.

We are sometimes accused of carving our individuality out of American resentment, but that is not true. Somehow, despite growing up in Uncle Sam’s shadow of a much bigger economy and population, we have developed a personality all our own.

It’s not just universal healthcare, being polite or our multi-cultural mosaic. It’s not just bannock and polar bears and the largest amount of freshwater in the world.
Canada is a combination and the culmination of hopes, wishes, dreams, hardships, mistakes, tragedy, history, imagination, strength and perseverance. And all of those feelings are represented through hockey, our national sport.

Hockey is engraved in our hearts from a small age, whether we play or we watch. It is our common denominator. Our collective identity lives in community arenas, living rooms gatherings and on ice ponds across this nation. Hockey is a language we can all speak, whether we live in Alberta or Quebec, whether we are male or female, whether we are of European descent of a member of one of our many First Nations. It is the great uniter of an even greater nation – it is our bond of brotherhood. And while we may not win every tournament, we will always have the most heart.
So much in fact, we can’t help but love to share it with the world.
Congratulations Canada!