Remembrance Day

This past spring I went with my mom as she returned for the first time to the Netherlands since she left in 1957.

She was supposed to go to the 70th Anniversary celebrations in Wageningen but was too ill to go. I went for for her and took many pictures and video so she could watch vicariously through me.

The love the Dutch have for Canadians to this day is overwhelming. I have to say I have never felt prouder to be Canadian than I was on May 5, 2015 in Wageningen, Holland.

The soldiers in the parade and the spectators  came from all over Canada, the US and throughout Europe were happy to participate and to feel the love and appreciation of the crowds. This remembrance day I will remember all the soldiers and their families of WWII and all the wars before and after, those brave souls who gave up so much for our Freedom. Thank you. And I do remember.

The first photo is the church where the papers to end the war was signed with the Germans. The second is just one of so many proud Canadian moments of the celebrations.

This is not my video, I found it on a google search, but it is a good representation:

Still Remembering

November 11th is a statutory holiday which means people like me get the day off. Although I don't join in memorials away from home, I do spend the morning remembering usually based on various programs on TV. On Tuesday evening I watched a really interesting documentary about the Liberation of the Netherlands and Canada's part in it. Some of the stories I had heard from my mom and some of course were new.

It still amazes me that my mom's family didn't loose anyone despite bombs destroying the building next to them and trigger happy Germans who shot at little kids. It also amazes me that even though the country was seriously affected by such a horrific event, my mother and her brother barely missed any school. I believe she said there were only something like 5 days missed. What a testament to the people of Holland as well as my mother's family.

 66 million people died during World War II, that seems so hard to believe yet it did. I wonder if there will ever be a time where there isn't a war. I wish we could follow John Lennon's plea to 'give peace a chance'. Don't you?

Oopsey doodle! I let time slip away from me again. Another week has gone by - goodness! Where have I been? Well first my day job has kept me really busy and by the time I'm done work I'm kinda done with all computers! Zapped of energy and ideas.

Next, I've been rushing to get as many things as I could in my shop. I had a little assembly line of baby top hats going since they've become popular as snowman/snow baby hats - especially for Christmas portraits. I've been making them with red hat bands and a matching scarf now as well.

Now we're at the end of our Remembrance Day long weekend -  but I decided to put in a couple hours of overtime for work and then wanted to get productive in my shop. Basically doing everything except being on a computer.

I did follow tradition and participate on the Remembrance Day programming on TV. I have never missed one yet. I have always felt the need to remember since my mother was very much affected by WWII and my grandfather fought and was injured in the war as well. I have always been grateful to soldiers and their families as they give up so much for us - in today's address the student poem had a wonderful line -something to the effect of " war gets in the way of what we're fighting for". I wish I could find her poem so I could share it with you.

Well back to sewing and stitching and photographing etc. It's a busy time of year!

And you? Are you busy too?

Remembrance Day

I have always observed Remembrance Day, usually tuned to the TV from 9:30 - 11:30 watching all the events, usually the one in downtown Vancouver, but also flipping channels between Victoria (our provincial capital) and Ottawa (our nations capital) - usually it's raining in Vancouver, between showers in Victoria and sunny in Ottawa. I have never forgotten and have always been there. 

Today, however, I'm not at home, I'm with my mom in another province and am not able to tune in as I always have. To me, Remembrance Day is very important to remember because my mom and her family was in Europe during the Second World War, in occupied territory - something a little child shouldn't have to have experience with. She's told me that they went through school through the whole war with the exception of maybe a couple of months, and I'm amazed that despite bombings and invasions these children had a somewhat 'normal' daily life -daily school, activities, birthdays, chores. I guess that's partly because of their mothers - who's fierce maternal instincts kept her large family together and safe. I thank my grandparents for taking such good car of their family during such an awful time and also I thank my grandfather who fought in that war for sacrificing all that he had as well, it changed his life forever. Neither of them are with us today. 

So now I do not know any war veterans personally, but I thank each and every one of them -and their families and their mothers - for doing what they feel is right and sacrificing so much. Its sad that they are fighting less and less for freedom these days and more for egos, power and money but they do the very best they can and for that I am grateful. 

If you, or one of your loved ones is a veteran -please hug them and say 'thank you' for me? 

I Remember

My mother was a little girl in Europe during the Second World War and has many stories of how she and her little brother Jerry would search for Red Cross packages dropped into ditches and fields or stand in food lines to obtain something for the little ones at home to eat; and how her little baby brother Paul was born in the middle of the war and was so weak he could barely raise his little head.

She recalls the horrible sites and sounds of the Nazi's dropping bombs throughout the city, sometimes only a couple of buildings away, and losing playmates or school mates because of it.

She tells of black outs and dark paper on the windows and tracer bullets and German soldiers banging on the door demanding that the women give up their husbands or give up the location of their neighbour's husbands.

My grandfather was injured during the war and had a plate in his head and walked with a limp for the rest of his life.

And my mother recalls the joyous day at the end when the Canadian soldiers marched into the city to declare a better life.

For me, remembering those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom is not so difficult to recall. And I thank every single man, women and child who has personally forfeit their self, or those who have given/lost  a family member so we all can have and live better lives.

Thank you.

I remember.

And I am grateful.