Oh Monica

In January of '98, we were part of "Ice Storm 98" here in Eastern Ontario. For 9 days, it poured freezing rain. We were without power for all of that time, heating bottles for Paige on our gas grill outside. It was incredibly surreal, the night it started, we stood out on the porch and could literally hear the trees cracking and falling.

The entire region was powerless, meaning there were no stores open, no banks, no resources available to us at all.

One the first night of the Ice Storm, Dakotah set about preparing "Monica" for us. First, she covered our table with a tablecloth, then put plates and silverware on it, and candles. She declared that we must 'feast,' something not easy to do with no cooking facilities. She took books and wrapped one for each of us in wrapping paper.

As we progressed a bit deeper into "Monica" we discovered she had somehow learned the traditions of "Hannukah." Never wanting to lose an opportunity for Dakotah to learn about something different, I explained to her that Jewish people had different traditions than we did, and when she said grace at dinner time, we could not end our prayer with our custom of, "In the name of The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit."

So, before we ate, Dakotah recited the only other prayer that she knew at barely 4 years old, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, May angels watch me through the night, and wake me up in the morning light."

After dinner, Dakotah insisted that we all stand and hold hands and sing songs around the table. As serious as she could possibly be, Dakotah broke into a rendition of "Oh Monica" to the tune of "Oh Canada."

Every night for the entire 9 days we were out of power, we celebrated "Monica" by feasting around our dinner table.