My Mom is American

Have I ever told you that my Mom is American? Born and raised in Detroit, MI, she moved to Canada when she married my Dad. She hasn’t lived in the United States since then but she is still very much an American even though she loves living in Canada. Sometimes I forget she is American until some Detroit team comes on TV or we start planning our annual shopping trip to Michigan. Even though she doesn’t have dual citizenship, we all treat her like she does. Her love of Canada is evident and she has always loved living in Canada. When it became known that she would be accompanying me to the Olympics, it raised the question of who would she cheer for? Like I said she is still very much devoted to her home country of USA yet also very loyal to Canada.
I jokingly asked her who she would cheer for if something came down to a USA vs. Canada final. She very diplomatically replied she would be cheering for Canada. I have told her several times that is ok for her to cheer for USA, many people will cheering for many countries other than Canada. I even asked her if she wanted to bring her USA flag. I have no problem sitting beside my mom and having her scream and clap for USA and me doing the same for Canada.

She has solved the problem by building a combination of USA and Canada paraphernalia into her wardrobe. She has her beaded USA flag purse, a USA bandana which she has Canada and American pins on and conveniently enough the red and white she will be wearing for Canada is also 2 out of the 3 USA colours. I am also on a mission to collect some USA pins for her to add to her outfit. I’ve already given her the USA Welcome to Vancouver pin, the USA Flag Walk button and the Canada/USA flag together. I saw a pin trader with a USA pin and the Olympic rings. Maybe I’ll run into one of those again so I can make a trade. In any event if my mom wants to stand up and cheer for USA, I’ll be right beside her. I did stand up and cheer for them at the Opening Ceremony, but tomorrow when Canada plays USA in Men’s Hockey, I will be cheering for Canada all the way. For any other event I have no problem cheering for both. And Mom can cheer her heart out for USA if that is what she wants to do.