Grandmother's Birthday in Canada

by Seth Rogan
(Toronto, Canada)

My grandmother was born in a small, rural town outside Toronto almost 65 years ago. She loves telling her children (all nine of us!) and grandchildren (don't ask how many!) about her absolute favorite birthday.

Her family had just moved from rural Canada to Toronto, and she was about to start school for the first time. She had been really sad about leaving her friends in her small hometown. Even worse, she had never been to a city before, let alone a big city like Toronto! She was an only child at that point, and she felt very alone in the big city.

She started grammar school a week before her birthday, and of course, all of the other kids knew each other already. Every day when she got home from school, her mother would give her a big hug and ask her how her day was. "Ok," was always the answer, but her mom knew better.

On the morning of my grandmother's sixth birthday, her mother made her breakfast and sent her off to school, just like every other day. Unbeknownst to my grandmother, her mother had contacted the teacher, and received permission to bring small cakes and flowers for all the children in my grandmother's class.

When the children were about to have lunch, the teacher told the school children that it was this new girl's birthday. Then, my great grandmother came into the room, and gave each child a single flower and a small sweet cake. After that, all the children knew who my shy grandmother was, and appreciated what her mother had done.

She made friends very easily after that day. My grandmother still gets tears in her eyes when she talks about it.

When the school children had told their parents what my great grandmother had done for her daughter, several other mothers did similar things for their children.

Perhaps the start of a new tradition...