Remembrance Day - Why I cry

 Yesterday was remembrance day, a day to remember the sacrifice that was made by so many so that we could have the right to choose how we live. I choose to remember most everyday and be thankful, but even more on November 11th, and yes I cry, every year that I can remember,I do not plan to, but my heart and eyes have a different plan.
     In our small community we have a remembrance service, and I have the honour to help with this day, We have our service and lunch to follow, put on by our church, this year we moved the service to the community hall to accommodate more people,. We are fortunate to have a Canadian Forces Base close by with many service men and women and their families choosing to live in our small community and they come out to support our efforts,some by taking an active role in the planning of our day,some by taking time to attend,God Bless Them All. One of these very special people I have come care for very deeply ,her husband is a proud member of the military and she is a proud supporter.I don't know if she would be to happy about it but I have come to think of her as one of my own. this young couple have had a very trying time lately with the loss of their home due to fire and all the upheaval that brings with it. At the time and since I have felt disappointed in myself as I feel I have not been there enough for these special people,as was not wanting to butt in, and hoped they would know I was just a phone call away. But once again I have strayed from the topic. Yesterday morning this lovely young woman arrives and has had some tears, and more are starting to come, she is given some hugs from one of the other woman and gets busy with what she has to do. Later one of my friends turns to me and asks what was wrong with said young woman, I had to stop and get over that this friend did not get it, yes she cares about this young lady or she would not have asked, but the fact is she did not get it.
    The service was very meaningful as always and even more special for me as we had a piper(I love the pipes). We were wrapping up the lunch and I was finding harder and harder to keep my tears at bay( OK so I lost it during the service a little bit but got it under control so that I could help with the lunch). When things slowed down could not hold it in any longer, decided to slip out the back door before the tears started so no one would see. Darn it I got caught, and the gentleman asked what was wrong, I sniffled back my tears and said "this happens on remembrance day to me". His next question was why, did you loose a family member or someone close to you? I was somewhat at a loss, but realized he did not understand so I gave him a quick answer as I could not explain to him at the moment the real reason,but in retrospect I guess I should have. Here is the reason I cry on remembrance day- I cry for the great sacrifice that young men made for this country 90 some years ago during the great war,and for the men who made the sacrifice during world war II, Korean conflict, and the men and women who made the sacrifice in Afghanistan.I cry because they chose to go a long way from their homes and families to fight for our freedom and to keep our country safe so we can have the opportunities we have. I cry for the ones who came home but would never be the same people they were when they left, their innocence left on a battle field in some far off place, the ones who came home with a limb or something else left behind. I cry for the families for their sacrifice.
        Always after this cry I try and remember to say a prayer to God for the people who made it possible for me to have the choice.
        So when you make your choices remember some one fought so you could make that choice, and maybe we should give a little more thought to our choices for them.
                                 Lest We Forget