For the Seventh Men and Women Who Are Far Away

"I noticed that you sing both anthems. I never took you as a flag-waving type. Whats's the deal?"




My first impulse was to completely ignore the email. At a time when everyone was wanting connection to any set of eyes they could get at the playoffs, I had neither the time or the inclination to defend or deny my allegiances. As the day after the game wore on, I thought more and more about the letter writer's curiosity and misunderstanding of what I was doing.



Why was I singing "Oh, Canada" and the "star Spangled Banner" before the games now?



It has a lot to do with who isn't here as who is present and cheering the Predators and Canucks.



Who isn't here? Lots of folks: people who are currently overseas on military duty, people who are doing field research, people who are on mercy missions with the Peace Corp., Doctors Without Borders, the Red Cross, the Red Cescent, Samaritan's Purse, The MCC and many other agencies. People who are sitting vigil to make sure I' safe, to make sure someone who can't take care of themselves isn't alone. Many of those people would love to be here in Bridgestone Arena, but duty calls and they answered as their hearts and talents have dictated they must.



That's all very lofty but I have to admit that I am actually singing for two particular people. D. and R. D. is from Atlanta and R. is from Toronto. I first met them in 2005 when I was doing travel processing for the Red Cross relief workers who were pouring into Mississippi and Louisiana after Katrina. D. was an old hand at hurricane triage who hated waiting in airports and loved hockey. She mourned the loss of her beloved Flames and adored her Thrashers. We would talk about life in general and hockey in particualr whenever there was a lull in the people demanding vegetarian meals or shorter tours.



D. has to be the most philisophical hockey fan on the planet. Her love of her Leafs rivals an Chicagoan's devotion to the Cubs. Beautiful, smart and possessed of the gentlest sense of humour I have ever encountered, the only time I ever heard her utter a cross word against anyone was when she found out Matt Cooke managed to go unpenalised for his hit on Marc Savard.



The second thing she wrote after she sent out an email blast informing her friends she was going to Japan with the Red Cross was that she would miss seeing the Leafs shake hands and/or salute the fans before skating off the ice for the summer. R. comiserated.


"All for a good cause, " she added.


Before they left we all chattered and promised to keep safe, keep writing, keep ferocious and funny and everything friends do before big adventures start. Just before we signed off, we tipped virtual Lablatt's at each other.


So this weird thing I do? The gesture that might only be borderline appropriate because I have always thought the US National Anthem should be "This Land Is Your Land' and I am Canadian only as far as my outlook and choice of sports is concerned? I do it for the people who aren't here. Sometimes the seventh man is as close as the next seat over in the barn and sometimes they're on the other side of the world.
Stay ferocious and funny, ladies! Tonight I'll sing "Oh, Canada" and "The Star Spangled Banner" for you as I've done all spring. Tip of a virtual Lablatts to the east to both of you!