11 - 11 - 11

The photo that I have as my featured pic is a photo of a fallen soldier but not of our Canadian forces. He was from the Royal Netherlands Army corps and I do not know his name. This was my Mom's boyfriend before she met my father who was part of the Canadian forces that liberated Holland. This young man gave his life in the fight for freedom from the Nazis occupation of his homeland and also as part of the war against their bid to overtake the world. I often think of the twists of fate that have a hand in the way our own lives are played out. If not for the sacrifice this young soldier made I would have had a very different story to tell. War affects us all in more ways than we realize.
I came across this when I was organizing my mom's effects after her death 25 years ago. I didn't recognize the face and asked my Dad who it was. He's the one who told me it was her boyfriend that had been killed during the war.
How removed most of us are from the devastating repercussions war brings. I try to put myself in my mother's place back then, a young woman in love with a handsome young man with the future shining bright and then everything, literally everything, you know and believe and dream about changes.
Today I sat in a beautiful resort restaurant with the sun glinting off the crashing waves right outside the windows. Eagles were soaring by and it was peaceful and calm. This is what those brave young men and women gave their lives for us to enjoy.
The least we can do is pay attention to their memory for a scant 2 minutes.