Before mid-December, 1967 in Mexico City my knowledge of Canada was limited to a film had seen with my mother. It was the 1954 film Rosemarie. Because of it I knew that in Canada they had policemen that wore red uniforms.
Then I met Rosemary. She quickly told me how to pronounce her name. I was further told that she had studied in Quebec and that the name, a province of Canada was to be pronounced KebeK. From there she revealed that she admired her Canadian Prime Minister who was called Pierre Trudeau.
When we were married, a few months later, her older sister Ruth who lived in New Dublin, Ontario came for a visit. I got the impression that she wanted to know if I ate my meals with a fork and knife.
One day I took Rosemary to Chapultepec Park. There we saw a totem pole. It seems that in her Ontario and Quebec they did not have these Indigenous poles. I photographed her next to it. I recounted how my first vision of a totem pole was leaving the Retiro train station in Buenos Aires in the mid-60s and spotting it. I further told her that Jorge Luís Borges (who deprecated anything Indigenous) said, “Is this an example of Canadian culture that they have sent us?”
Rosemary - Chapultepec Park - 1968
By 1975 we were driving our Mexican beetle to Vancouver with our two daughters.
My first real job in Vancouver was shooting station ID slides for the new French CBC TV station and a bit later I was hired by the English side to shoot variety shows.
One day I returned from the CBC and told Rosemary, “I now know that Newfoundland is to be pronounced New-fun-land with an emphasis on the first syllable."
By 1982 I was a Canadian citizen.
Patrick Reid & our Maple Leaf Flag
Now in this 21st century, thanks to my Rosemary/Rosemarie I am not in economically unstable Argentina, I am not in scary Mexico with people disappearing every day, nor am I having to cope with geriatric leaders in the United States of America.
I can only think how lucky I was that day in mid December 1967 when I saw that blonde woman (from the back) with long and straight hair who was wearing mini skirt that showed legs to die for.
On Canada Day I cannot but remember to tip the hat I do not wear to my Rosemary. I not only learned to love her but I learned to love her country. A country that is mine.
