20 years ago my wardrobe consisted of a variety of pink spandex shorts, I loved snap bracelets and I just could not get enough of the New Kids on the Block. Give me a break, after all it was 1989 and I was 6 years old.

1989 was also the year my uncle Kevin took his fall trip to Germany to see the fall of the Berlin wall. At home in rural Ontario, I remember huddling around our television set for days, watching masses of people take down this gigantic symbol of suffering one cinder block at a time.

My parents did what they could to explain what this wall had meant to the people of Germany and the world, but it would take 20 years of living in this world to really understand the true importance of the day the wall came crashing down, November 9th 1989.

I have learned that though Mr. Reagan gave a great speech during the 750th Anniversary of Berlin, hope, persistence and unity brought down that wall. People from around the world joined together for the common good. They came together to fight oppressive forces in order to preserve freedom and security for the people of Germany, sending a message around the globe that the impossible is possible.

When my uncle returned from Germany he brought me a gift. I unwrapped the package, anxious to see what exotic European treasure he brought back for me, to my surprise inside the delicate tissue paper was a chunk of cinder. It was covered with decades of graffiti that no doubt carries the passion of the artists that put it there. He told me the story of how he was able to harvest the chunk. He had waited for hours by one section of wall free of graffiti but full of guards. No one dared to attack this wall. Though there were hundreds around him with the same idea, the fear of being shot on the spot was too much for anyone to act. Then he wandered down the wall to where he seen another large group of people. He said he watched awhile as they shared the few tools they had giving everyone a chance to attack the wall. I always found it funny how just a few meters away from this jubilation the old emotions were still clinging to the wall. How those guards could be so dedicated to protecting that wall until the very last moment has always, always been a wonder to me.

I’ll admit at 6 years old a chunk of cinder wasn’t what I would have asked for, but its the best gift I could have received. The chunk still sits in my living room, next the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I’ve never forgotten what a triumphant it represents and tomorrow on the 20th anniversary of that day I will say a prayer of thanks and prayer of hope. May we never repeat the sins that lead to such a horrible division and may we never forget the power of the hope that brought it all crashing down!

I will leave you with my favourite quote from the graffiti on the Berlin Wall.
Many small people, who in many small places do many small things, can alter the face of the world.

Rebecca Harrison-White