To me every day is a remembrance day but today is the official Remembrance Day of 2012. Today is that one dedicated day of the year when we pay homage to those who gave so much for our freedom and democracy, our veterans. Today is that one day of the year when our collective soul takes time to remember those who gave and are giving so much so we can remain safe by our hearth and in our home.
For fifty years plus I have participated in Remembrance Day events as a way to acknowledge the sacrifices of a previous generation, my parents’. My father, many of my uncles and their peers were veterans from that generation who were lucky enough to make it back from the wars. Not all of my uncles (one’s I never know) made it back from the battle fields of Europe and the Pacific front. However over the years they have been joined by the many that did make it home only to succumb to the reality of the circle of life. My father passed away in 1998 but he is never closer to my heart than he is on Remembrance Day. May they all rest in peace as we continue to recognize their successes and sacrifices in building this compassionate democracy we call Canada.
In the Remembrance Day services of today my generation has added brothers and sisters as well as our own children as an observance. The bulk of our veterans have taken on a new face, a younger face however they continue to fight for the same concepts that my father and so many others fought for. However now they fight to help bring a level of democracy to other parts of the world assisting the less fortunate in overcoming tyranny and fascism.
They do this because my father’s generation accomplished what they did, not only for democracy but in building a compassionate and caring Canada. From my perspective a democracy isn’t a real democracy if there is no caring or compassion for the less fortunate. That is what my father fought for and any time I read or see an act of compassion or caring I have a remembrance moment. I don’t wait for November 11 to remember what went on before us.
Despite the adversity many of our vets are facing today I will remain non-partisan in this article and just focus on what our vets have given us. I will celebrate their accomplishments and mourn their losses. I will remember while I watch for the ripple effects of their actions in the community around me. I will acknowledge the acts of kindness and compassion I see happening around me every day despite the growing negativity we read about daily in our papers or see in our news. I will also share as many of those acts as I can through my writings and through my Facebook posts (yes I use Facebook).
And for today I would like to acknowledge the actions and write-up of a gentleman I like to consider a friend. The action he speaks of in his blog, in my opinion, captures that compassion and caring that so many vets gave their lives for. His actions on this day is about using a talent he already has to help out a hard working single mother battling a serious illness while maintaining a positive approach for her seven year old daughter. To me this is what remembering is all about, so Eugene I salute you along with all of the vets that stood by my father and continue to stand today.
Dad you, like so many before you are sorely missed, but your actions have not gone unnoticed. And the results of your deeds are reflected in the actions of so many caring and compassionate people. Every day should be a day of remembering so we don’t repeat the past. Lest we forget!
Juts one man’s opinion.
A Poster Child's Perspective 
Thanks Terry lovely piece.