Canadian
heroes has been a theme over the past several days at school as I celebrated
two different generations of great Canadians and their contributions to
history.
Last week my
school celebrated the 35th anniversary of the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope with a
spirit day filled with fun outdoor activities including a fundraising walk in
support for the Terry Fox foundation. If you don`t know the story behind Terry
Fox, I recommend looking into this amazing and selfless Canadian. After being diagnosed
with bone cancer as a young man and losing his leg to the disease, he was inspired
to raise money to help other young cancer patients. Terry decided to run across
Canada to raise money and awareness for treatment. He ran a marathon (42
kilometers!) every day beginning in Newfoundland. While this alone is an
amazing feat, Terry Fox accomplished all of this on a prosthetic leg and as a
cancer survivor!
Unfortunately,
143 days into his run, Terry Fox was forced to stop as the cancer had returned
and was now in his lungs. Terry Fox
passed away in June of 1981 at the age of 22. Canada, and the world, lost a
great man that day.
While he
was unable to reach his goal of running across Canada and raising one dollar
for every Canadian, Terry Fox inspired generations of Canadians after him to
take up the cause. For the past 35 years, Canadian school children and
communities alike have been participating in Terry Fox runs, walks and
activities to raise money for cancer research. I`m proud to say that our school
raised over $1500 dollars for the cause this year.
Seeing the
students, and staff dressed up in their team colours, cheering for their team
mates during the games and working together during the baseball game, made be
proud to me a Canadian and proud to me a teacher at my school. It`s good to
celebrate the accomplishments of brave Canadians.
Speaking of
brave Canadians, I also had the pleasure of attending an amazing evening hosted by
the Juno Beach Centre Association here in Canada and celebrate another generation
of incredible inspiring Canadians. 71
years ago, 14 000 Canadians landed on the shores of France on what we now call Juno Beach and began the liberation of Europe and the end of the Second World
War. This was D-Day.
At the end
of September, the JBC hosted a production of “Jake’s Gift”. This unique one
woman play tells the story of a World War II veteran who returns to Juno Beach
for the first time since D-Day for the 60th anniversary. The
playwright, who amazingly portrays all of the characters, delivers a beautiful
and heart wrenching performance. It makes audiences realize the challenges
facing veterans as well as the importance of keeping their legacy of sacrifice
and peace alive. If you ever have an opportunity to see this show, please take
it. You won’t be disappointed. Julia Mackey is a brilliant artist.
Canadians
owe so much to our veterans and often we forget about the sacrifices they made
for us. The fact that we live in a peaceful country is their gift to us, and we
often don’t take time to remember them beyond November 11th. The
truth is their sacrifice is so much greater than we give them credit for, and
the appreciation of the French people overseas for the liberation that Canadian
soldiers were able to provide them is remarkable. I would like to think that as
Canadians we are able to express our gratitude and thanks to these brave men
more often than once a year, so I challenge everyone, including myself, to show
their appreciation for veterans through action all year. “Thank you “doesn’t
seem like enough, but it is a good place to start.
The Juno
Beach Centre is a museum on the shores of this Normandy beach in France that honours the contributions of Canadians during the Second World War. I had the privilege
of traveling there this summer and it was an indescribable, life changing experience -
but that is a post for another day.
To learn
more about Terry Fox or make a donation to his foundation, please visit www.terryfox.org
To learn
more about the Juno Beach Centre and make a donation, please visit www.junobeach.org
Finally,
check out “Jake’s Gift” and the performance schedule here.
Canada is a
remarkable country and we have so many heroes of which to be proud. How will
you represent our Canadian heroes?
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