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| Post Credit: IMDB Poster |
This documentary tells their emotional and sometimes humorous story of compassion and generosity, born of a long history of rescuing and welcoming shipwrecked sailors.
Ria and I went to the 7:30 pm showing, a packed house the Salamar Classic Theatre.
The best pre-show joke came from the introducer to this second last of the Salmon Arm Film Society's shows for the year.
She asked how many people in the audience were from Newfoundland.
A few raised their hands.
Then she said, "Welcome to the rest of Canada". That made the rest of us laugh.
This documentary gets a five out of five star rating for me, but then I am the one who is searching out a way to learn more about Canada. At the end of the evening, I do feel I know Gander, Newfloundland in a profound way.
Arta
It's hard to watch the trailer without tears streaming down my face. September 11, 2001 and the days that followed came rushing back in my memory. My feelings, when it comes back to me, are a mix of a deep sense of loneliness mixed with a deep sense of connection to strangers. I remember the absence of air traffic noise and the compassionate understanding glances between strangers as I walked home to my new empty Gainesville apartment. The University had shut down. I did not yet have phone, tv, or radio. I was grateful for the kindness of strangers. Perhaps the new verb for that would be "to Gander."
ReplyDeleteI don't know if your new verb will catch on. But it is worthy of being added to the language. In the show there was thanks begin given to one of the residents of Gander and that resident said, oh, you would have done the same thing for me. "No," said the New Yorker. "If you had knocked on my door I would have locked it and called the police." So yes, to open one's door and gander the stranger at the door would work. Too bad gander also means take a close look at them, or a peek. Now that I think about it, gander already has a lot of meanings, but none of them approximate the kindness you give the word. I will watch today and see if I can "gander" anyone. The property is pretty empty. Only Greg and I are here. I will only see him if I go down there to see if he has any good ice-cream in his freezer.
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