Observations of a News Junkie

For as long as I can remember, I have been involved in Remembrance Day activities in some way. If I wasn’t in a parade or attending a ceremony, I was watching Parliament Hill events on TV. Every year on 11/11, at 11:11, I was silent for a full minute.

I have two favourite memories from Remembrance Day:

The first was watching my brother play the Last Post on his trumpet in his air cadet uniform at a ceremony in Cornwall. It’s an extremely hard piece to play, and I was so proud of him. 

The second was from a couple of years ago when a few friends and I braved the downtown crowd and went to the War Memorial in Ottawa for the Nov. 11 ceremony. There were thousands of people, long parades of uniformed veterans, cannon salutes, poppies everywhere. 

It will be odd this year … to not only be at work, but be in class when all of my fellow Canadians back home are silently remembering the sacrifice of all those who fought for our freedom. I think Remembrance Day is an extremely important “holiday”, to honour those who made our country what it is today. 

Today I will not be marching in a parade in my air cadet uniform, covering ceremonies for a newspaper article, watching events on TV or even wearing a poppy. But I will remember.