Hope Floats

From the desk of Teresa Jordan, Executive Director – I walked into my office this week and found a bottle of wine. More delightful, there was no note attached, so while I want to be able to thank the person, I love the mystery and wonder of not knowing who decided to brighten my day.

I looked more closely and the label on the bottle of wine says, “Hopetown.” There is a story about Harrow, Ontario, which used to be called Hopetown. In Hopetown the glass was always half full.

Close to Lake Eerie, this settlement surveyed in 1824 was named Hopetown, in honour of new beginnings, an enduring pursuit for happiness and a bright future, super optimistic musings for settlers battling the harshness of early Canada.

In Hopetown a house was built on the side of a hill. From the roof workers could hear the cannons of the battle of Lake Eerie and, unruffled, they continued to build. That home still stands today.

I took all of this as a sign – that there is hope, that we are almost through these dark times and that just like the workers on the roof, there may be cannons, but we are carrying on. 

I looked up Hopetown wine in researching this blog and found the LCBO site, where predictably the first review I read said, “The most terrible red wine I have ever tasted.” The second said, “This is everything that I ever imagined in a good red wine. ”

Hope tastes different to each of us at different times.  When we are scared and overwhelmed and someone tries to show us that there is still a reason to build our house despite the rumble of cannon fire, sometimes we are just not into that kind of optimism. Other times it is the just what we need to carry on to eventually find all that we ever imagined.  Thank you to whomever gave me the gift of wine – and hope!

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