ONCE UPON A TIME, THERE WAS THIS IDEA

once upon a time,

there was this group of people

who felt they didn't have a voice

& wasn't in control of its destiny,

on the little piece of land

they occupied on this planet.

once upon a time,

there was this little frenchman

who ignited the passions

about the identity of these people,

with just a few words:

"vive le quebec libre!!"

some people took different roads about it.

some went into politics.

others chose terrorism...

i remember vaguely the FLQ & their bombs,

& it culminated in the kidnapping of a quebecois minister

& the british trade commissioner,

better known as "la crise d'octobre",

(the 1970 october crisis...);

but i remember the military occupation in montreal,

the army trucks riding our roads,

to kill any uprising in the bud,

& searching high & low for those terrorists.

quebecois are not violent by nature,

but there just was this idea...

this idea that we could,

& we should,

be in control of our destiny,

& not have to compromise on who we are.

just an idea...

no more than that at the time.

once,

there was this respected journalist

who decided to make the jump into politics.

& this idea reached its apex

when the parti quebecois was born,

humbly in the beginning,

but its importance snowballed

& the party gained power for the first time in 1976.

quebecois were ecstatic.

it was an eerie feeling over the land.

i remember,

as my father was a member of that party.

my mom wasn't entirely sold on the idea.

i remember

how much frictions were caused

among families, friends, neighbors, etc,

as they stood divided on the idea.

but everyone agreed [i think]

that something needed to change.

once upon a time,

there was this guy,

who grew up in a francophone family,

but always surrounded by anglos,

to various degrees throughout his life,

& he was fine with this.

he was used to differences,

as his own parents were of different churches,

different political views,

different tastes in most things,

& still respected each other [most times].

this boy was raised to embrace differences,

becoming himself the epitome of differences,

turning often enough as the oddball in many places:

the francophone amongst anglophones,

an anglophile among francophones,

the token gay amidst a str8 bunch,

an atheist among believers,

& the list goes on.

but an idea always persisted in his mind/heart:

quebec could stand on its own.

of course,

he had a more inclusive idea of what quebec should be.

he believed

in every groups that constituted the people of quebec.

he believed

in the synergy & the spirit prevailing over this land.

he believed

this land is unique!!

he believed it

when he voted for the first time of his life

at the first quebec referendum on its possible separation

from the rest of the country.

he believes it still,

even if the face of quebec has changed somewhat.

just an idea,

that may remain just that.

an utopia...

once upon a time,

there was this land where people lived together,

seeking understanding & harmony.

once a year,

they would stand united [for the most part]

to celebrate quebec's uniqueness.

a uniqueness

that spoke first of a french people;

then there were two peoples,

francos & anglos.

then,

there were many more,

of all languages, faith, colors, shapes & sizes.

quebec became more wordly,

& yet,

still unique in spirit,

even if a certain idea still caused tensions...
an idea that's an ambitious dream for some,

a freaking nightmare for others.
enough said!!

today is a day to celebrate!!

celebrate your belonging!!

celebrate your differences!

just celebrate

for no other reason perhaps

except for being thankful of living here,

in quebec.

i personally wouldn't trade it

for anything in this world.

bonne saint-jean baptiste tout le monde!! 'stie!!

(couldn't help adding this last bit,

wouldn't quite have the quebecois flavor without it,

now, would it?!?)

:D~

HUGZ