A new poll shows more Canadians are planning to honour our veterans this year than in years past.
Ipsos Reid conducted the survey and 10% more said they would attend a Remembrance Day event than said so 2 years ago. There were 14% more than 4 years ago.
When I was in Grade 8 I won a contest for a poem I wrote about Remembrance Day. I got a little certificate – long lost – and my poem was published in a collection of writings by students. I have no idea where that is either. I can only remember bits and pieces of it. It was about an old woman who lost her husband in the war and was visiting his grave decades later. What it proves to me now is that the idea of Remembrance Day and the sacrifices of our war dead got through to me when I was a preteen. Some say that’s lost now. I hope they’re wrong.
However you mark the day, whether it’s standing outside at a Cenotaph or joining in a moment of silence at 11 am Sunday, you’re doing your part to keep alive the tradition of honouring those kids – and so many of them were kids – who died defending our freedom.
Derek has written a beautiful tribute to his Dad who was a veteran. You can read it here: http://derekbotten.ca/?p=627