Thank you/Merci…

Today is our Canadian Thanksgiving…. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The pandemic will be history one day and everyone will be re-united with loved ones again. Bambi hopes your family and friends (+ you!) will all be safe until then.

Bambi grew up watching American TV series (one of her favourite ones was “Little house on the prairie” (some may have known it as “Little house: a new beginning” :)).

She recalls scenes of Thanksgiving with family reunions in a happy town. She does not remember if it was during that time where she got too excited to see a snake about to bite the mother of the family. She only knows that she wanted to protect her, with her screams (to attract her attention to danger). Well, silly young Bambi stood up whilst shouting and somehow hit her teeth with the furniture. Well, she had bloody gums in this TV-related injury. What matters is that that mother ended up being safe :).

Anyhow, Thanksgiving may be perhaps more significant to Americans than to us (at least from a religious point of view? Or is this just Bambi’s perception since her childhood in Beirut?).

Mind you, the American Thanksgiving is celebrated in November (same as Brazil and elsewhere) and ours in October. As Bambi’s spouse said: Wise Canadians, as it is surely before the snow… Well, not always let’s say (Bambi heard that it snowed in Antigonish, NS the other day :)).

Yes, Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and/or cultural traditions, but it is also a secular celebration of the harvest and other blessings of the (past) year. The idea is beautiful. It is all about gratitude, after the hard labour. It is of course also about lovingly coming together as a family to eat and have fun!

The past year has been tough in one way or another. For some of us, tougher economically speaking. For others, perhaps the pandemic made business busier.

All countries suffered for sure (the consequences will hit hard later), but some perhaps more so.

Yesterday, Bambi read about farmers losing their olive trees to forest fires in Lebanon (thanks to the Lebanese Army for completely extinguishing the fire. Contrary to last year, no one was hurt). VERY sad still, especially in the incredibly harsh economic crisis. Olive harvest season starts in the fall, if Bambi is not mistaken, just before winter (olive trees carry olives every two years). BOTH olives and olive oil are an integral part of the delicious Lebanese cuisine!

Anyhow, to conclude this post, Bambi is grateful for all the goodness in our world and for our human capacity to be/remain hopeful in times of uncertainty or adversity.

Yes, she is mainly thankful for hope in the world (in addition to thanking God for so many blessings in her life, including the protection of her loved ones in Beirut).

She also thanks everyone who kindly reached out to her to inquire about her family. They consolidated her hope in humanity. In turn, she shared with her family stories about these gestures of kindness, hoping to contribute to keeping their hope alive. Bambi admires her parents’ courage, wisdom in coping, and hope against all odds.

Hope is sometimes all what is left for us after losses or following moments of doubt or despair. Hope for survival now. Hope for a better tomorrow. Hope to grow/keep growing and become wiser. Hope for peace. Hope for prosperity. Hope for love in our hearts and around the world.

If you thought Bambi is being too philosophical today, well let’s conclude this serious post with the following cute songs in both languages, about “thank you/merci” :).