Lest We Forget

"War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!" That's the chorus from the 1969 song by Edwin Starr. While it was an anti-Vietnam song, it's still relevant. Wars are destructive. Wars are expensive. Wars take lives, tear families apart and have ever lasting effects. Which brings us today. Remembrance Day. People all across Canada (and the US) gather today to remember. And for the ever growing majority of Canadians, we're not sure what we're remembering.

World War One ended 94 years ago. There are no longer any living Canadian WWI veterans. No one left to tell their stories. To remind us, to give a face and humanity to such a catastrophic event.

World War Two ended 67 years ago. We still have veterans from this war in Canada. They still come out to ceremonies every year and watch the proceedings with more sadness in their eyes than anyone should ever have to know.

WWI saw just under 65,000 Canadians killed and WWII saw just over 45,000 killed. That's almost the entire population of PEI killed in just over 30 years.

Why?

The easy answer is freedom. Canada went to war to help our allies in Europe ensure that everyone would be free.  We'd all get to have freedom of religion, speech, association. The ability to go to school, have careers, have hopes, dreams and futures.

When you stop to think about what these people sacrificed for us, a simple "Thank You" really doesn't seem like it's enough. And that is why we remember. As the wars slip further and further into the past, it becomes even more important for us to remember what happened and why and to thankful and grateful to all of those who fought to keep our countries safe and to give us the freedoms that we have today. We've lost soldiers more recently in Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan too, though the reasons for our involvement in those wars seems a little more hazy. But they all have one thing in common: freedom. Keeping it, and making sure that others get it.

My great grandfather fought in WWI. He was in France for almost a year before taking some shrapnel to the head and being send to a military hospital and then sent home. My grandfather fought in the Navy in WWII and mainly served on the HMCS Swift Current.

I never knew my great grandfather and unfortunately, my grandfather died before I was old enough to understand what war is. How I would have loved to have heard his stories. I would have liked to have written them down and kept them for future generations to read.

The Canadian government is doing a great job of keeping the stories alive. They have wonderful records and they're making more and more of them available online. I was able to order my great-grandfather's military record and thanks to the government's online war diaries, I can track his troop movements across France and read about the missions and day to day operations. One day I'd actually like to go to France and see those places that he fought in and for. And see the Vimy Memorial.  I'd also like to see our memorial in Belgium. My great uncle Doug's uncle's name is on that memorial. He was lost during the fighting and never found. Which means he never came home. But his name is there so that people don't forget him and don't forget the others just like him. Lost, but not forgotten.

To honour all of those who fought and died, or were wounded or were just never the same again because of what they saw/experienced, we can remember. After all, if we don't respect history, we're doomed to repeat it.

Good Night.

Sarah

National War Memorial

 



Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A Thankful Day

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner tonight. There was a ton of food, lots of wine, lots of laughter and an abundance of things to be thankful for. This wasn't a dinner with my family. This was a dinner with the "B" family.

I first met the B family back in 1997 thanks to their daughter who I met at University. Since I couldn't afford to go home for Thanksgiving, I was invited over to her family's house for dinner. Fast forward 15 years and I'm still being invited over for dinner. The fact that they count me in as one of their own makes my heart smile and I am so grateful for them. When I joined them for dinner in 2010, I was miserable. I was jobless and feel at odds with the world. They made me laugh and smile and gave me hope that things would get better, and they did. Being around them all today gave me the same feeling.

Mr and Mrs. B live out in the country in a lovely farm house. When we got there today, the men folk were out in the back 40 putting in fence posts. Mrs. B and I had stepped outside to take a photo of the beautiful sugar maple when her grand son came up to us. Turns out the tractor had run out of gas. So I volunteer to walk one of the spare gas cans out to them. It was a lovely fall day and the leaves were beautiful so a wander through the field was perfect. After delivering the gas and getting caught up with people, Mr. B says "Can you walk up ahead and hold up the next fence post?". So I troop through the tall grass and find the next pole and hold it until the others can get to me and then they banged it into the ground and attached the wire to it. The next thing I know, I've hunted down the next 10 poles. LOL. Just like my own family. If you show up, you're put to work. I was more glad to help out and it was very nice being outside too.

The dinner was great and the turkey was huge!! It was almost 30lbs. The best part of the night came during dessert. My friend's sister in law is a vegetarian so she doesn't eat turkey. She also doesn't like pumpkin pie. So, my friend and her husband got a "Turkey" ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins for dessert (and a pumpkin pie). The frozen turkey cake was a huge hit! Photos were taken of the sister in law eating the "turkey" and we all got to try a piece. I have to admit, it was pretty awesome. And pretty damn funny too.

It was a great day and evening. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and people in my life. I appreciate them more than they'll ever know.

Before dessert was served, Mr. B had everyone at the table say what we are thankful for. I think I'm going to end tonight's blog with the answer I gave:

I am thankful for surviving the layoffs at work and having a job. I am thankful for friends who act as a surrogate family. And I am thankful for pants which fit looser coming out of storage than they did when they went into storage.

Good Night!

Sarah

Sugar Maple tree

Pay It Forward

It was a good day at work and a sad one at the same time. It was good because things went well and I got a lot done and it's the Friday before a long weekend, so that made it awesome to start with. I was sad because it was also the last day of work for several of our staff. Some are returning to school, one is going on mat leave and one is moving onto a better job.

Having the students leave means that summer is almost over. The long hours of sunlight are slowly dwindling. The last of the summer flowers are blooming. It's times like this when it seems like time is just moving by far too quickly. And I have to admit it: I miss school. I loved going to University and getting to open my mind to new ways of looking at the world, new ways to interpret things and for the first time, really thinking for myself. I don't miss the mid-terms and final exams, but I miss school.

It was also kind of a sad day because the co-worker who's moving on to bigger and better things is gone. She was a blast to have in the office. I'd known her a little before getting the chance to work with her and over the last 5 weeks or so, I've really gotten to know her better and have learnt that she's a wonderful person and I genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. And I'm somewhat amazed by her killer Crossword skills too. I know it's not "goodbye" as I'll see her again, it's just not going to be the same on Tuesday morning without having her there. Next Thursday will be worse for the 'farewell' category, but more on that later next week.

Before leaving work this evening, I was chatting with some of our evening staff and there was a mini game of "six degrees" happened as a lot of people working here know other people in the department and so on. How people found out about the jobs came up and someone's comment about it being great to be able to help out others reminded me of something from long ago.

I had a teacher in high school who gave everyone in the class a special paper in our last class before graduation. Mine was a long quote about life and happiness and the end part stuck with me and I still remember it. It said "And above all remember this: Do what you can, for whom you can, with what you have and with what you will obtain". Not quite the same quote as Roosevelt but close.  That line really has stuck with me all my life and I've very much tried to do that. I guess it's the same concept as "Pay it Forward". It's a simple idea really. If someone does something nice for you, go out and do something nice for someone else.

I think the world would be a much better place if more people subscribed to that idea. It doesn't have to be a grand gesture either. Even the smallest things can really make someone's day. Something as simple as paying for the coffee of the person behind you in the drive through. Or holding the door open for a someone who's pushing a stroller. Or sending a post card to a friend.

I do that last one a lot. I have a couple of friends who are near and dear to my heart who lives several thousand kilometres away. One of my favourite things to do is to pick up a cute card or random post card and send it to them, just so that they know I'm thinking of them. It's truly amazing how much getting something simple like that in the mail can totally brighten your day. I know, because said friends do the same for me.

A simple, selfless, heartfelt random act of kindness can completely turn someone's day around.

If you're reading this, and I've ever done something nice for you, please go out there and do something nice for someone else. Share a smile. Buy a child a balloon, compliment someone on the colour of their dress, send an old friend a postcard just to say hi....just spread some happiness in the world. Not only will the other person feel amazing, but you will too.

Thank you for being so nice as to take the time to read this blog. I'll be sure to pay that forward.

Good Night!

Sarah