Lebanese Exodus

One of my co-workers resigned yesterday for "family reasons." It wasn't long before everyone knew that the "family reason" was that his entire family is picking up and moving back to Lebanon to participate in the anticipated liberation and elections that should follow a Syrian withdrawal. Rumour has it a whole lot of Lebanese Canadians from Ottawa (and presumably the rest of the country) will be heading back to their homeland. It'll be interesting to see what kind of a feel the annual Lebanese Festival has in Ottawa this summer. Will it be smaller this year with so many people gone or will it be bigger than ever in an effort to raise money and awareness for the new Lebanon? It's hard not to respect their dedication to the cause. It's also hard to wonder who's going to be running all of the very good shawarma, donair, pizza shops that are institutions in places like Halifax and Charlottetown while they're away. And I mean that in the very best way possible. I would seriously miss the food if they all left and didn't come back.