Lest I forget

For most people Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day for the Americans) evokes thoughts of war, peace, sacrifice. For me Rememberance Day has always made me think of my grandparents. My mother's mom and dad were both WW2 veterans, he was a mechanic with the army and fought in England, earning a purple heart among his medals, she was a WAC with the RCAF and she served overseas in a medical unit I belieev. I don't know much about her service because she never spoke of it and she took what she saw with her to the grave. My grandfather, however, in the 8 months he survived without my grandmother opened the floodgates of his memory and shared with me his memories - not the gruesome ones (if indeed there were any) but the lighter moments, the men he served with, the strangeness of Army life and Army rules (which apparently chafed him), the ordinariness of most of his service. I was 15 and too young (too stupid) to fully appreciate the gift that these stories were. Rememberance Day always makes me miss them, makes me wish I'd listened harder and asked more, makes me long for just one more hour, to sit once again with them, having tea and the little squares of toast and honey my grandfather so lovingly prepared early Saturday mornings while he taught me about internal combustion engines and sound waves.

Few people are as blessed as I was to have grandparents so genuinely and openheartedly doting. They've been gone more than half my life yet still their influence guides much of how I live, and still I think of them every single day. Today especially. I miss you both.