Nov. 11th: A Powerful Service!

11am on the 11th day on the 11th month of the 11th year was a very memorable moment in time for me.  I commemorated Remembrance Day by attending the downtown service at Victory Square in Vancouver.  Last year was the first year that I had ever attended an actual Remembrance Day Service and it immediately became a tradition for me. 

Standing in a park with hundreds of other people, listening the poems, songs, speeches and then seeing the planes fly overhead while the guns were saluting - was a powerful experience to say the least.  This year in particular was an emotional year as it came shortly after Grampa's passing.  Seeing the planes fly by this year (even though they were further away due to weather conditions), caused me to become so emotional that I found myself breathless a few times as I fought to restrain the tears.

I still think back to that Remembrance Day a few years ago when I slept past 11am feeling among the guiltiest I have ever been in my life - and then later going to see Jake's Gift for the first time ever.  The play changed my life at that moment and made me realize just how much I have taken for granted not just the actions of all veterans, but of my own family.  I remember heading straight home and writing my grandparents an email thanking them for everything for me and my country.  Fortunately I felt like I was able to make up for some of my mistakes by taking them to see the show in Hamilton at my Grampa's alma mater, where they were treated like stars. Because really - they are.  One day to honour them truly is not enough.  So maybe this blog being written late isn't such a bad thing.

To our awesome veterans!