November 11th, 2013

The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.
Czeslaw Milosz

Some may think that Remembrance Day is a dusty throwback to events fading in history. If only we could be so fortunate. Like many of you, I was at the cenotaph this morning. The Remembrance Day service was moved inside the nearby church due to the wet weather. Arriving just before 11, I did not want to disrupt the service so I observed my 2 minutes of silence outside.  Afterwards, I drove to a nearby cemetery. Being a drizzly fall day I was the only person there. Walking through the wet grass and fallen leaves to a spot I have visited many times before, though this time it was very spontaneous. The man buried here is one of the reasons why we should continue to remember. His family lovingly tends to his grave regularly. A dozen or so red poppies have been placed in the soil in front of it recently.  A simple white cross adorned with a wreath stands to the right of his monument. I took off my poppy and placed in the wreath.  Many Canadian war dead are buried across the ocean and far away yet here this man was, buried a 5 minute drive from my home. The reality of all of this hammered itself home. The significance of this day is not lost in distance or time. This soldier was not a casualty of some long ago war. Buried at Wallace in 2007, he was a casualty of the war in Afghanistan. War still strikes close to home. This is why we take time to remember.