Remember? I don't think I could ever forget!

How I "Remember" these days is a lot different than even just a few short years ago. I've always "observed" Remembrance Day. I've always been somewhere to watch a ceremony. I've always felt it was important to Remember those who've served in the Military and those who've lost their lives so that I could live mine.

I've always been surrounded with family members who were also military members and for me, paying Respect on Remembrance Day was also paying respect to them and to their families, for the job that they did. When I see a poppy I feel a great sadness. In the late 90's I lost an uncle to cancer. He passed away on November 4th, 1996. Its hard to believe it has been 12 years this month. His passing was a very hard one for me because to me my uncle Mark was like a second father. Our families were very close and his two sons were just like brothers to me. I was the oldest and then there was Jeff who was 4 yrs younger than me, and his brother Kyle who was a few years younger than Jeff. I will never forget when we lost my uncle Mark. At his funeral I stood outside in the rain as his coworkers, all dressed in uniform, marched up to his grave side, saluted him and placed their poppies, one at a time, on his casket. As I was standing there in the rain I realized how truly blessed I was to have known him.

After I watched the last of the soldiers salute my uncle, my aunt Sue walked over to me and pinned a poppy from his casket onto my coat. We cried. I still have that poppy. It doesn't look as new and fresh as the one in my picture but it carries a special meaning to me.

Anyhow, it was not my intention to go there....

Even when I first had Justin, I remember bundling him up on those cold dreary days *is it just me or is it always cold and dreary on Remembrance Day?* and putting him in a stroller and walking to our local cenotaph to watch a ceremony. Justin was always quiet. Its a little harder to take Luke, as he isn't as "quiet" as Justin always was...but I will take him anyways because to me, this day is important. I want Justin and Luke to grow up with the same appreciation that I have grown up with.

In 2005 I moved here to Petawawa Ontario. All of a sudden days like "Remembrance Day" became a lot more meaningful than they'd ever been. And I didn't think I could top what I already 'felt' about this day.

I live in a town where everyone I know, my neighbours, my coworkers, my best friends are all a part of this profession I've spent my life admiring. My friends, my coworkers and my neighbours are soldiers or wives and children of soldiers. When I drive down my local main street it is not rare to find a LAV driving down the road or to see an army of military vehicles lined up down the road. Maybe even in the Tim Hortons drive thru. Seriously.

Men and Women in uniform are all around me. You start to realize very quickly that this "job", this "profession" is more than just that. This "thing" called "The Military" is a lifestyle. Its a way of life. It is life. Its life here in Petawawa. Its fair to say it isn't MY life, since my husband is not in the military but all in all we live here. We live with the military all around us. It becomes us, no matter what we do for a living.

The first time Petawawa base was deployed to Afghanistan *when we lived here* I didn't KNOW anyone who was overseas. In the year that followed that deployment I began to meet new friends who since then, have become some of my very best friends. So this past September, CFB Petawawa is once again deployed in Afghanistan. One of my closest friends husbands is there. My children play with her children. My children go to school with other children who's mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers are deployed. This is a very stressful time for Petawawa. Along with this stress comes a camaraderie like you've never seen. Its like this community comes together and all of a sudden the people you see walking down the street or the people you pull up along side at an intersection are more than just strangers. Its like we're all in this together.

I drove my friends husband to the bus the day that he left for Afghanistan. I pulled up to his house to pick him up. I'll never forget what I saw. I saw a man, the same age as my husband. I saw him sitting on his front step with two bags at his side. All I remember thinking was "wow, here is this husband/father leaving his family for uncertainty and yet he is smiling. He is proud and he has a job to do and so he shall do it.

All his military gear packed and ready to go. He was dressed in his desert camouflage, beret on and three pictures in his hands. He had been looking at them when I pulled up to his house. He tucked them inside the bag he was carrying. He had one picture of each of the girls in his life. His wife *my friend*, and his two little girls. Same ages as my boys. We made small talk on the drive to the base and once he got out of the car he said his quick "good bye, thanks for the ride, lets all get together when I get back". I assured him that everything here at home would be fine, we'd help out his wife if she needed for anything. He closed the car door and I watched him walk away. I'll never forget watching him walk away. I'm certain *because in a town like this, you MUST always have hope* that he will come home to his family. To those he left behind. To his wife and his two girls. I just know he will. There can be no other way.

This is just one person out of a whole town. We wear red on Fridays to show our support for our troops. We watch CTV 24/7 to make sure our friends are safe. This war is a daily part of our lives.

When I go to the cenotaph tomorrow I don't care how cold it is. I don't care how rainy it is or how windy or how uncomfortable. I will be there. I can brave a little cold and rain to show my respect for those who've served in the past and those who serve now. There is no other way. My boys will grow up with the utmost respect for the military and for the soldiers who give their lives so that we can live ours.

Please Remember. Never Forget.
Wriggs