an e-mail to everyone

From: me
Subject: "novemberance" day message
Date: Sun, 06 Nov 2005 23:58

I've been thinking about the war and what the soldiers fought for and what my generation takes for granted and what Canadians take for granted lately. We see so many people streaming in from war-torn countries and if you ever talk to anyone of them, they're amazed by Canada and our rights. To think that in some countries, they tell you what to wear, eat, think. Lately, it's been harder and harder to work in retail when I see young girls whining to their parents that it's not fair that they can't have a $200 pair of jeans. Although I can never understand the actions of 9-11, I can almost understand the frustration. Other countries can see it. Why can't we?

Anyway, all these thoughts have been mulling in my brain for a long time - since the passing of my grandfather and 9-11 - and I recently received an e-mail from my Auntie Deb which prompted me to put my thoughts down. (Thanks!) I wanted to pass them along to my friends and family in the hopes that this Remembrance Day we can all, if only for just one day, be TRUELY thankful for what the soldiers in WWII won for us. Even if you don't have any family members, alive or passed, who were in the war - take a look around and see what we have. Say a prayer for those who don't have. (And if you do have a living relative who fought in the war, give them a hug and say thanks while they're still here.)


Dear Grandpa,
I wanted to thank you but I never got the chance. I didn't understand in time. You've been gone for a few years now and since then, I've come to realize what you did for me. Before, it was always "just a day" when we'd go to assemblies in school and hear poems and songs or we'd go to see you lay your wreath. Now that I'm older and have seen a little bit more of the world I realize what "freedom" really means... and how I've always taken it for granted.

You lived in a time when your freedom was threatened and you believed in something. You went to war to fight and to defend what we view as a right. You never talked about your experience or lectured about what you had given up for me. You went to war in the hopes that I would never need to know. Yet, it must have hurt you to see me growing up and taking it all for granted. I was oblivious to your sacrifice.

Since you've been gone, I realize the lesson you taught me without saying a word. The vision of you walking across the stage, still so proud after all the years, will stick in my mind. You didn't die in the war but your death taught me what the war was about.
I will not forget.