So, Remembrance Day. Another free shopping day before the season really starts. A extra day off school before midterms and/or finals. November's public holiday--gotta have a day off once a month.
It occurred to me that I tend to take this attitude every year. We're not really fighting a war so most of us find that nothing is so easy as forgetting what this day is about. Since I finished highschool there's really been nothing to remind me. No school assemblies, no crap school jazz band playing John Lennon's "Imagine" for the 50 billionth time. No documentary films of WWI soldiers in the trenches or D-Day soldiers getting blown up. We are DAMN LUCKY that we can forget and spend the day at the mall-which by the way is the 2nd worst day of the year to work in retail after Dec. 27th.
This year neither of us are working retail (glory to God!). Instead we're helping a friend move out of his house and start his life over. He has his own battle wounds--the kind you get from a broken marriage--also something we're lucky to have avoided so far.
At 11 o'clock my husband's phone alarm goes off and I had totally forgot about the time. There we were cleaning out the debris of 4 sad years and his alarm starts beeping and I had no idea what it was for. My husband isn't sentimental at all, but yesterday when I mentioned that I felt we ought to do something about Remembrance Day to mark it properly, he took it to heart and set an alarm so we could stop what we were doing. We dropped our chores, faced east (no icons in the house anymore) and said prayers and sang Memory Eternal- right there on ground zero of someone's crumbled marriage. I teared up because I'm a pregnant and everything makes me tear up. But I feel like like we set a good tradition.
Sometimes moving on is the opposite of forgetting.
5 comments:
that's really cool that you did that.
how sweet of your hubby.
it's more than we sad-sacks did.
I was on my way to the grocery store and listened to the Last Post on the radio. We have ONE surviving vet from WWI, who is 108 years old; but many war vets in Canada are now in their 20s and 30s. I hope employers give them respect when they are looking for work.
This year I even missed getting a poppy, which I always do. The vendors were not very visible anywhere, or I just haven't been out much...but I found a lost poppy on the floor at the Safeway checkout and the cashier said "oh, that's probably mine.." and I mentioned I was sorry I didn't have one this year, and she said I could keep it, she would get anothe at Starbucks on her break, so I gave her a donation to put in the box there for me.
I had a few opportunities to buy a poppy but I never carry change!!
That is a very cool idea.
I too, had a hard time finding a poppy this year. I think there are less and less veterans around selling them. That is the sad truth.
I'm sad and ashamed to say I was hip deep in studying and OP practice and did not even remember what day it was until 1:30 on my lunch break. You're right, I'm damn fortunate that I can be so shamefully forgetful.
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