With Glowing Hearts

Today is the anniversary of the end of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Wow, the Olympics really were a magical time for all Canadians. Personally, I was blessed to be in the right circumstances at the right time that I was able to attend the Olympics. I’m from Toronto but my sister and I were able to make a trip to Vancouver for the games as ‘Olympic tourists’.

Simply put, I had the time of my life. As many others have described before, the ‘spirit’ was palpable. Everyone was open, friendly and excited – foreigners and locals alike. Every single day was a blast: from striking up conversations with the person seated next to you in a stadium to ‘O Canada’ being sung almost every day on the packed train home. My personal favourite is how packed Granville Street was after every game the men’s hockey team won with people giving high-fives to just about everybody else.

As for the perfect end to the perfect games – I was one of the thousands of faces in Livecity Yaletown for the gold medal game. Looking back, it’s funny how we all began a countdown (at the 30 second mark, I think) before EVERYONE went deadly silent as Zach Parise tied it up. Naturally, I was elated when Crosby got that goal in overtime. What I didn’t’ expect was that I would share my joy with some random stranger, hugging and jumping up and down together. When the flag was raised in the stadium and the anthem was sung, a row of us random strangers formed a chain, singing the anthem together. It was such a wonderful feeling that can’t be replicated.

Prior to the game no one could imagine that it would end in such a dramatic fashion. I can say this now knowing how it turned out: thank you Parise for tieing it, thank you Crosby for the golden goal and thanks to the entire team for an awesome finale.

I know I’m lucky - not only was I able to cross ‘go to an olympics’ off my bucket list, I was also able to see it in my home country. Vancouver is a beautiful city and I’m glad that I had the opportunity to see it at its best. Thanks to all of the Canadian athletes for giving us all a reason to cheer and making us so very proud!

With glowing hearts, indeed.