Canadian Moment

No foto ops, no flag waving.

Just a true and beautiful little encounter.

Last night, we squeezed in a short hit of tennis balls at a small public park near the Oak Street Bridge.

After, as we were heading for the car and some dinner at one of our favorite little Chinese restaurants (delicious, inexpensive, consistent and wonderful, friendly service), a little boy caught our attention.

Turns out his name is Nick, as in Nokolai or Nikolas. He was born here in Vancouver. He looks a little less than two. His mother is Russian and she is from a village near Odessa.

Sitting on the same bench were two ladies in their sixties, both from mainland China.

Soon, three languages were being tossed about - English, Russian and Mandarin.

I am a Canadian born Jew whose mother was born in Russia. My friend is from Guangzhou.

This entire episode lasted all of four minutes, tops.

And we got in the car and looked at each other and almost simultaneously said, "This is Canada at its best."