Photo by Chris Sansbury on Unsplash

I confess to feeling a little morose on this particular Monday. November 11 or “Remembrance Day” as it’s called here in Canada, is a day of reflection and gratitude for me and my family, as it is for many across the world. The day brings somber memories of my father, who passed away in November 2011.

Dad served in the US Marine Corp during  WW II. He spent the war in the South Pacific, and was on the Japanese island of Okinawa greeting his brother, who he hadn’t seen since the opening days of the war, when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He and my uncle Sam thought it was just another earthquake, of which Japan has plenty. It wasn’t until two days later that he learned the truth of that terrible day.

Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

My father never shared too much about his experiences. On the few occasions I asked, he grew quiet and changed the subject. Not until my oldest sister convinced him to record his memories for a family history did I learn about what he went through. Reviewing his memories has stayed with me and come to mind more and more as I age.

Today, more than any other, evokes the horrors of war and the sacrifices so many of the world’s youth have made in the past and continue to make today. My hope and wish for this day is that each of us can take a moment to appreciate and remember our relatives who gave so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms they fought to preserve. As conditions in the world deteriorate at an ever increasing rate, let’s do what we can to keep our friends and family, strangers and neighbors, safe from conflict. If something as simple as a kind word or gesture turns wrath into understanding, why not make that effort?

I want to leave you with a Canadian’s thoughts on the carnage and destruction of WW I. It’s a touching poem that I read (and shed a tear over) every year at this time:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields