Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall, says owner Caron Keens. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

Osoyoos residents have a lot to be thankful for and for a short time it’s all out in the open and on display.

A week before Thanksgiving, Osoyoos Dairy Queen owner Caron Keens asked customers to share what they’re grateful for.

Each table was stocked with a pen and piece of paper that started with a statement: “Grateful for.”

One month later, a wall in the restaurant is covered with over 300 responses, and more are still coming in.

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“I think the word’s kind of out and so people are coming in and they’re kind of expecting to see the little note on the table for them to fill out,” Keens said.

Each of the responses is unique, but there are two that Keens points out to customers who stop to read the wall.

One says the writer is grateful for “Two new lungs and each breath I take.”

“Last week there was a lady that was in here that was filling it out and she just had a double lung transplant,” Keens said. “I gave her a big hug.”

The second one says: “After trying to commit suicide twice, grateful for friends who didn’t give up on me and still love me.”

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

After reading the responses, most of which are anonymous, Keens hopes people remember to consider what those they encounter may be experiencing.

“We just want to be mindful and kind to one another,” she said. “There’s been some people that have really put down some powerful statements here and we never know what another person’s going through.”

Some answers are a little more lighthearted; one note, scrawled in a child’s handwriting, expresses gratitude for dirt and Minecraft. Another person is thankful to be alive at age 81. And many respondents are grateful for family, friends and to live in Osoyoos.

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Keens didn’t plan to keep the notes on the wall for long, but because of the overwhelming response they’ll remain until American Thanksgiving on Nov. 28. But she hopes it’ll inspire people to remember to be thankful all year.

“My hope would be that some of the people that have filled out these notes that it would give them a little trigger to say, ‘hey, I’m going to do this more often. Maybe I’m going to think about what I wrote and incorporate it into my life and maybe things get better.’”

People can read, and contribute to, the gratitude wall at the Osoyoos Dairy Queen on Main Street until Nov. 27.

“If somebody needs a little pick me up, just come in and have a peek at the board,” Keens said. “It’s going to make you feel good.”

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)

Over 300 people have contributed to Osoyoos Dairy Queen’s gratitude wall. (Vanessa Broadbent / Osoyoos Times)