REMEMBERANCE DAY
by
Elaine Storey

Remembrance Day, Sunday November 11th is an unparalleled holiday on our Canadian calendar. The unique commemorative value of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month cannot be brushed aside as something imagined or shrouded in mystery. It is a tangible date that marked the end of World War 1 and it is for us to remember and understand the achievements and sacrifices made by those military and peacekeeping personnel ~ their legacy is substantiated in our freedom. Remembrance today should also reflect the involvement of our troops in the Civil war in Afghanistan ~ it is a reminder to Canadians that we aren’t ‘sitter outers’. Canadian troops, at the bid of NATO are attempting to keep the peace in the middle of a war zone. Are we sacrificing Canadian lives in a no win situation - possibly, but if not us then WHO? Conflict and war do not run according to a set of rules where each country clock in and act according to a plan. Remember how Canada was at war in Germany for two years before the Big Guns arrived?

Remembrance Day ~ we are not obliged to get involved, bake a turkey, hide some eggs, roast some yams or even show up. There is no requirement of action (for Most), there is no onus on us to perform. Instead it’s a day set aside for reflection, pondering and surmising ~ simply ~ it is a day to remember.

There is no religious agenda or shopping season that brings you to the day. There is no need to ‘squirrel’ money aside for it, or make travel plans or get your passport updated. There is no need to shop for Remembrance in the off season when toys and trinkets are marked down. You do not have a closet full of banal gifts to stuff in decorator bags to adorn with ribbon and a tag. There is no list making and early mail deadlines for packaging. To summarize ~ Remembrance Day is totally about YOU (not you as in birthday boy/girl) but YOU as in your depth and ability to show respect and honour, and to stand up in ingratiating silence and be thankful and be counted.

It’s about you tallying up the price of your freedom. It’s about you thinking about the families who anteed up with uncles and dads and sons and daughters. It’s about you remembering how lucky you are to be here at the frozen cenotaph with the November wind on your forehead - the sound of geese overhead and the promise of something warm to drink afterwards. It’s knowing the difference between protesting the political mission but not the men and women. It’s knowing how to see through tears and hear through silence. It’s about you looking into the eyes of a veteran and saying, “I am proud of what you did for us, I thank-you.”