An epidemic, what a great way to remind us all how alike we are.
Woke up one day in a country that was no longer different than my own. As an immigrant, it is complicated to make your environment feel yours truly, sometimes it’s a different custom, a different language, or a new financial method. Now, either you consider these differences a pro or a con, but they are still differences. At the end of last year, after 2 years of being in Canada, I thought maybe I will never really feel at home, and I was starting to feel at peace with that.
Over the last months, the world has shifted and the meaning for what is important has changed with it.
It no longer matters whether you speak Spanish, English, or Chinese or if you are used to eating spice, cheese curls, or pasta. It only matters if you are healthy or not, and I can perceive that shift every time I hear the news, go to the grocery store, or walk around my block.
So then, in the middle of a pandemic, I woke up to a country where I was no longer struggling to feel like it was my own because all dissimilarities dispelled the moment the world started caring this much more for one another. If there is a positive thing I can draw out of this global event, it is that, as an immigrant, it destroyed my concept of difference and finally allowed me to feel at home by taking care of the people around me.

Well done Edith !!