My brothers in arms

I live in a fairly small village outside of a larger town.  Every year the village gets together on Remembrance Day to honor our fallen soldiers and those who have given their lives for the good of us all.  On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the nation gets together to remember and stand together in a moment of silence.  This year I took buddy-child with me because I had to drive her somewhere right afterwards.  They’re not long ceremonies but I knew we would be really pressed for time.

Just before we leave for the ceremonies I go downstairs and find buddy-child in a skirt, dress shirt, tights (so that she wouldn’t have bare legs and be disrespectful), hair done up, makeup on.  I think it’s because something’s going on after I drop her off.

Nope.  It’s because she felt that she should be dressed up because that showed respect.  I was surprised, not necessarily because buddy-child is disrespectful (she’s not), just because you don’t always expect the younger generation to actually show their respect for something that is typically only observed by the ‘older’ generation.

She was so excited.  She had bought a poppy the day before and proudly wore it on her coat.  Just before leaving to go I see her start to put on her high heeled ankle boots (they’re all the rage right now) and stop herself and change into her flats – again, taking time to think about the image she’s leaving with others and not wanting to look at all disrespectful.

On the way there, she told me that a lot of the kids from the high school were acting up when the school did their moment of silence on Friday and she was disgusted that so many of them couldn’t stand still and be quiet for the full minute.

We stood together quietly, she even turned her phone off.

As we’re driving away I remember boy-child’s fascination with history and the world wars and his admiration for the soldiers that served their time.  I am so very thankful that I have never been in a position of having to say goodbye to any of my children, knowing that they could very well be going off to their death.  I can only imagine the fear and agony that you would go through on a daily basis and my heart goes out to them all, past, present and future.