Why do I wear a poppy? I have been asked this question a couple of times this week, so I started thinking about it a bit harder than usual. I guess first and foremost, it’s in honour of my Grandpa, who fought in WWII, and for the other men I know (including my great-uncle, my next-door neighbour, and the man who plays Santa every year at my church) who fought long and hard to maintain the freedom we take for granted everyday. But I don’t know of anyone really important to my family who was killed in WWII (or any other war), so many people ask me why I continue to remember something that happened decades ago, long before I was born. It has a bit to do with my interest in history, I guess - I find it very easy to think of things that happened long ago as still being relevant. But it’s more than that, and more than just a tradition, which I suspect is why a lot of people wear it. Many people wear a poppy because it’s the thing to do, and they don’t really think about the meaning behind it anymore. But I do. It’s very important to me that I wear the poppy as a symbol that I *know* what my grandfather and others suffered in order for me to have what I have today, and that I honour and remember and appreciate their sacrifice, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. The fact that men and women I never knew, who never knew me, died before I was even born so that I could live in a free country affects me very deeply. I take it personally, and I feel the need to show that Nov. 11 isn’t just another day for me. I think my generation has become both desensitized to and removed from war. We see it every day on tv, but it’s always happening somewhere else. We don’t know what it’s like to live through war, and we don’t appreciate how good we have it because others did. We can’t even begin to comprehend the horrors of it, and therefore we have moved away from honouring those for whom it was all too real. I’m not sure how we can fix that (I’m certainly not advocating that Canada fight another war!), but it’s something that concerns me. So please, next Wednesday, take even one minute of silence to remember and to honour. Stop your life for a minute in honour of those whose lives were stopped forever, for your sake. Don’t say it doesn’t affect you, because it does. Even if you don’t know a single person who fought in any wars (and I find that hard to believe, but it is possible, I suppose), the sacrifices of those who fought should give you a moment of pause and thankfulness. Be happy to be alive, and remember those who made it possible.
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