…And Bells on Her Toes

At exactly 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, I will have tears in my eyes.  Tomorrow is Remembrance Day.  Every time I see a ceremony on TV with the WWII (and a few of the WWI) Veterans, I get very sad.  Just looking at them, crying, remembering what they went through – it must have been horrible.   I haven’t lived through a war (sorry, but that silliness that GW started doesn’t count), and I hope I never do.  My Parents lived through WWII, my Mother was in Hitler’s Germany at the time, fearful to be in public because she didn’t have the Aryan look.  My Mom won’t talk about the War, it was too painful for her.  My Dad was asked to join the Danish underground and spent time in an Italian POW camp.  It was a completely different world back then, different than what we have to take for granted today.   Too many people lost their lives, fighting for freedom or simply fighting to survive.  The minute of silence we observe each year is the least they deserve.

I remember the year before Caity was born, Lexy and I were at the Superstore at 11:00 on November 11th, 2006.  They made an announcement about observing a minute’s silence to honour the memories of those fallen in the wars.  Lexy was in the shopping cart and she chatted away like she always does.  “Shhh”, I told her.  “Why Mommy?”.  “Because it’s important, just be quiet for a minute.”  I could tell she didn’t understand and she looked around and saw a few other people stopped, heads bowed.  “What’s the matter, Mommy?”  “Shhh, Lex.”  I said again.

A young woman and her child whizzed passed us, oblivious to our stance.

“But Mommy, they’re moving.” Lexy told me loudly.  “Yes, Lex” I whispered “they’re being disrespectful” I told her.  She nodded as if she understood.  The minute was over and I tried to explain to Lexy why we had to hold still and be quiet.  I told her how it was good to remember people who fought very hard to keep our country safe and to help make others free.  She didn’t quite understand and got easily distracted by the free cookie that Superstore used to offer the kids.

Now that Lexy is in school, her school is holding a Remembrance Day Assembly tomorrow.  Now that she’s older, she’s sure to have questions.  She will try to interpret what she hears into something that makes sense to a six-year-old.  How do you explain War to a young child who lives in a peaceful society?

I want her to respect the fallen soldiers. They paid the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives so that others may be free.  I want her to stop for a minute of silence and think about what she has and how she should be thankful for that.  I know it’s a lot and I don’t expect it at this young age, but I hope as she ages, she will understand.

There are too many people in this world who are disrespectful to their elders when they should be cherished.  Do they not realize how much we can learn from them?  I heard a story somewhere on the internet that went something like this:  A teenager is talking to a senior citizen and he’s boasting about how good life is now that we have all the electronics, the gadgets to make life easier etc.  He couldn’t understand how they got along without all this new technology back in their day.  The senior citizen simply says to the mouthy teenager – when I was younger, we were the ones who invented these gadgets, what have you done lately?

Or something like that.  I think you get the point.