Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and though I did bake something special in honour of this day I will post it on Sunday. I don't want to confuse the reasons I'm writing this.

I'm one of the few in Ontario that has today as a holiday. Each year, news stories surface demanding that today become a holiday for everyone. I wholey believe the opposite. Remembrance Day should be a holiday for veterans, those in the armed forces, and no one else. Remembrance Day is the one day of the year that we should awake happy and thankful that we are able to work where we want and in a country we love. Thousands died and are dying so that we can live a life of our choosing. This is not our day.

It pains me that every year I witness far fewer people wearing poppies. And though it might not seem like much, wearing a poppy signifies our recognition of the sacrifices of the past. I fear that with each generation this message is lost. We owe it to those brave men and women to never forget their sacrifices. We owe it to them to remember that the freedoms and priveleges we hold dear would cease to exist if not for their strength and courage. They gave their lives for us, and continue to do so today.

This is their day.

~Adam

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

John McCrae

Photo courtesy Monique Jansen