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Association President's Message Research Chair in Canadian Studies The Transition to Parenthood Study
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Editorial by Liz Fleming '77
At the time, that song seemed to sum up the innocence and simplicity of childhood, but today it has taken on a new meaning for me. The tragic events of the past several months, the attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, the war in Afghanistan, the mounting tensions between India and Pakistan that threaten to explode into violence on a nuclear level, all these and more have combined to give the lyrics of that song new meaning. Truly it is a gift to be simple to be able to enjoy the straight-forward pleasures of home, and friends, and family, secure in the knowledge that today is likely to be much like yesterday, and tomorrow will be more of the same. And that sameness is a good thing, a blessed predictability that should be cherished for the peace it provides. There can be no question that it is a gift to be free. What we've witnessed on the world stage of late has convinced us all, forevermore, of the value of personal freedom. We should begin every day with a sense of gratitude that we live in a part of the world where freedom is a right for everyone, not a matter to be determined by your gender, religion or position. And certainly, it is a gift to
come down where we ought to be and where we ought to be is where
we are in a free country, enjoying the opportunity to make
of our lives what we will. While there may be things about your
life that you would change, for the most part, we have much for
which we should be thankful. Today, take a moment and savour
the knowledge that somehow, through some stroke of cosmic good
luck, you have come down where you ought to besafe and sound.   |
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W hen
our children were small, they sang a song I loved: