It’s Remembrance Day this weekend
I’m not sure if I should admit that I don’t always get to the services in whatever town I happen to be living in at any given time.
It’s not a lack of respect or a lack of gratitude for the service of those who make a deliberate choice to lay their lives on the line for our freedoms.
Without these men and women, the world we wake up to each morning would be a very different place.
I remember one morning a few years ago. I had a few of the grandkids staying with me and it was Remembrance Day.
Kids being what they are it was a chaotic morning and we wound up staying in. I tuned in to CBC and the services taking place in Ottawa.
I usually make it as far as the playing of Last Post before the tears slide down my cheeks.
I’ve always been a little embarrassed about these outward displays of emotion whenever I’ve been at a Remembrance Day service. Not sure why this is but there you have it.
On this particular morning, my oldest granddaughter came up to me and asked if I was okay.
I smiled and told her just to ignore her emotional grandmother.
Aurora is nothing if not persistent and before I knew it, we were talking about the day and what it meant.
She was about nine at the time. She just looked at me and told me not to let the tears bother me. She said to think about all the families whose dads and brothers and moms never came home and how sad they must’ve been. Then she reminded me of all the horrible things that our service people experience and then, because she is who she is, she touched on the animals who are injured doing their part to help us stay free.
The next November 11 we made it to the services. As the tears began to trickle down my face, Aurora came and stood beside me, slipping her hand into mine.
I recently discovered one of my dad’s uncles lies in Flanders Fields. It turns out he’s my dad‘s namesake. I’ve been planning a trip to Europe over the last couple of years. I will make the time to visit him and pay my respects to him and those who lie there with him.
As our veterans of the two big wars age and pass away I have wondered if we will reach a point where their sacrifice and the sacrifice of those who follow will cease to have meaning in our world.
I don’t worry as much now. Not with children like my granddaughter in the world.
