Last month we went
to Portugal, and in the small seaside town of Nazare (famous for its
world-class surf), we found a charming family-run restaurant where we ended up
having most of our meals.
One evening in the
restaurant we struck up a conversation with an adult foursome who we soon
learned were Portuguese-Canadian from Toronto.
“How about those
Leafs this year?” I said. “I mean, really, how exciting are they to watch?”
“Very!” one woman beamed. “Are you from Canada?”
“Yes, Owen Sound,
north of you.”
“Of course. Small
world.”
“We are big fans
of the Leafs, especially now,” she went on.
“How is that?”
“Because their
son,” she pointed to the second couple in the foursome, “won the Air Canada
Center’s Maple Leaf fashion design completion.”
Then, Mom, takes
up the conversation.
“It was such a
shock for us when he made the short list.” [The winner would dress Leaf fans
for the 2017-18 season when their capsule collections are produced and sold
exclusively at The Toronto Maple Leafs Store.]
“Well, I can imagine.”
“And then out of
the blue, I received a phone call from the prize committee. They told me my
son, Richard Campos, had won the men’s division.”
“That’s the last I
remember because I was so happy I fainted.”
“You fainted?!”
“Just lucky I didn’t
crack my skull when I hit the kitchen floor,” she said with a wide grin. “Just
fainted for sheer joy.”
We have this good
friend in Brooklyn, B, who M and I have become closer to in the past few years,
and it wasn’t until recently we discovered that he is of Portuguese origins –
by way of Toronto.
Ha, in Canada, one
finds yourself in the shadow of the United States; in Portugal, in the shadow
of Spain.
Humble, small
countries and friendly unassuming people who are natural givers and skilled
listeners.
When it comes to
Portuguese-Canadians they seem to have a double-dose of those properties.
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