Remembrance Day on Sunday. It’s personal remembering for me. My dad was one of the young Canadians who willingly faced the brutality of the First World War because he believed he was fighting to keep the world free. He had some horrendous experiences, including being buried in a collapsed trench for several days. He had two medical discharges. Somehow he’d managed to re-enlist after the first one. He served on the front lines both times.
He ended up in St. Anne de Bellevue military hospital in Quebec. My mother was a nurse there and they fell in love. He discharged himself in her care. They married, came west, and lived happily until his injuries caught up with him and he died over 50 years later.
As a veteran, Dad took a dim view of war. He didn’t think the sacrifices made by those on the front lines were worth it. He thought the political leaders who wanted wars should duke it out between themselves.
Canada is a free and safe country. Spending a few hours this Sunday remembering and respecting the people who helped keep it that way shouldn’t be too hard to do.
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On a lighter note, Halloween is one of the fun times for kids. There are currently six trick or treaters in our family although the youngest, who just turned two, stayed with his grandma and I and ate smarties while the others went out. He shared his smarties with me, one at a time.
Some houses got many trick and treaters, some few. One household not only left all the outside lights on, their two cats, one dressed as a witch, the other as a vampire, sat in the window to attract customers. Not even one showed up. Maybe the cats were too scary?
Diana French is a freelance columnist for the Tribune. She is a former Tribune editor, retired teacher, historian and book author.