Lest We Forget

To me Rememberance Day is the most important holiday we celebrate as Canadians. (Veterans Day for the Americans out there). So today hockey, the NHL, who scores and who makes the big save, those things don’t matter. All that matters today is taking the time to remember the many men and women who fought and died for your country. Wear your Poppy proudly, honor those who sacrificed with a moment of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day on the eleventh month. If you are lucky enough to see a veteran be it retired or still serving, take a second and go shake his or her hand, tell them thank you and let them know that you are gratefull for the protection they provide and the freedoms they help to maintain.

Last year when I was writing blogs about the Oilers over at oilonwhyte.com I did some research on NHLer’s that fought in the great wars. It’s surprising to see just how willing so many were, and people that didn’t have to, volunteering to go overseas and fight against the enemy in the name of your country. People were more selfless back then, they were willing to put others before themselves. I don’t think that would be the case if something similar were to happen now.

I’m writing this because I believe in the importance of remembering, and the importance of passing this history on to our children. My daughter is 8 years old and has attended 5 Rememberance Day ceremonies and I don’t have to drag her out either, she asks to go. I tell her stories that my grandfather told me, she’ll sit and watch documentaries on the subject and ask questions. I’m very proud of her interest in the history and I’m proud to tell her. This all comes back to the article I wrote at Oil onWhyte and about growing up with my grandfather telling me his stories from the Second World War and I wrote about that last year, you can read the full article here (http://oilonwhyte.com/2012/11/10/what-really-matters/). Below is a snippet from that piece;

When I was young I would sit around the supper table and listen to my Grandpa and Grandma tell their stories. My grandpa was too young to enter the war, though not for lack of trying, so while he and my grandmother lived in London during the battle of Britain he served as a Bomb Warden, and when not huslting to and from the bomb shelters, my grandmother worked in a coffee shop. The thing I remember most is that my grandfather told stories of others heroism, never his own. He lost many friends during WW2 and you can still see the emotion on his face when he speaks of the war.

I am very lucky that my Grandfather is still with us, and he still likes to share his stories. He shared one today about the last Canada Day Parade, he was riding in a convertible and during a slowdown of the parade, someone came up to the veterans sat in the car, shook all of their hands and said thank you. You could see on his face and hear in his voice how much that hand shake meant to him. If you are lucky enough to see a veteran this weekend, stop and thank him or her, shake their hand. I promise it will make their day.

There aren’t many veterans of the great wars left, so it is now up to us to carry these stories on the our sons and daughters so that we never forget the sacrifices that were made for us to live life in the comforts we have become accustomed too.

Thanks for Reading

Lest We Forget

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8gRx8tWJmI]