Did you take a moment to pause and silently reflect on November 11?
If you remembered to do that, around 11 a.m., that was even better. If you muttered a little prayer of remembrance under your breath, better yet.
We just hope you didn't let the day pass without some kind of inner reflection on what this Remembrance Day thing was all about.
We hope this happened because we all need to remind ourselves that war and its aftermath is ugly. Cities and countrysides that have been settings for combat bear scars decades later and just like the scars on a body, they don't go away.
Our veterans of all wars and conflicts return home scarred, some don't return at all.
We defy anyone with any degree of intelligence to come away unscathed emotionally after watching a person beside you die suddenly, especially if that someone was a friend and ally.
Canadian men and women have served selflessly in theatres of war, not just in Europe during the two Great Wars, but also in Korea, Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan and all the conflicts in between. In every instance, the price has been significant, including the 160 Canadians who were lost in active duty in the most recent battles in Afghanistan.
Those who served with them and those who served in the First and Second World Wars and in Bosnia will be quick to let us know that these are not war games, they are the real deals.
These are not video exercises where one can take a break to fetch sandwiches or sleep. These are conflicts, not fought on couches, but in blistering heat and cold with dreadful repercussions. There are no pause buttons to regroup and plan a strategy. There are no comfort zones, but rather hours of boredom preceding hours of intense life or death activities where losing does not mean a reboot but rather a casket.
So we hope that on Monday you paused and took a moment to think of what it takes sometimes to defend democracy.
We get to vote, travel, work, play and learn where and when we want and need to, thanks to our armed services personnel who most of us didn't really know, but whose acts of bravery and kindness made what we have, possible.
These people were not the made-up heroes. They were the genuine thing.
We hope you said thanks to them on November 11.
