Blooms of Friendship

Being a cat, I love prancing around the garden. Flowers smell SO nice—they make me purr! Last fall, many schools across Canada participated in a “75 Years of Freedom” tulip planting project. Tulips are a symbol of the international friendship between Canada and the Netherlands that blossomed during the Second World War.

It was a very difficult time for the Dutch people during the war. Canadian soldiers went to help them but, sadly, more than 7,600 Canadians died in the effort to free the Netherlands. The Dutch have never forgotten this sacrifice and have sent Canada thousands of tulip bulbs every year since then as a colourful gift of thanks. They bloom each spring in our capital city of Ottawa!

To recognize the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of their country, the Kingdom of the Netherlands helped organize a special Canada-wide school tulip activity. Many ceremonies took place last fall as students carefully planted the bulbs of remembrance. I knew that those flowers would bloom this spring when the weather warmed up. I took a walk around my neighbourhood and found some beautiful garden beds of tulips in schoolyards. One of them even had a little sign calling it the “Dutch-Canadian Friendship Garden!” What a beautiful way to remember.