Remember.

After my Remembrance Day article was published last week, I received a really touching e-mail. Thank you for this Cheryl Buckley:

Dear Nat,

Thanks for your great article entitled 'Don't deny our veterans' printed in this week's Westmount Examiner. Couldn't have said it better myself. I, like you, simply cannot comprehend why any store owner here simply doesn't 'get it' .

The significance of the poppy resonates with me as I know it does with thousands and thousands of others at home and overseas. My great uncle Edgar Buckley died at 21 on some bloody field in the Great War 1914-1918, my grandfather Cliff Buckley was too old for overseas duty in WW2 but was a staunch member of the Home Guard in Yorkshire UK; my sons' beloved paternal grandfather Henry Gray, still alive and kicking at 87 in Brockville, Ont, left his family in St Boniface, Manitoba as a bright-eyed young man originally intent on entering the priesthood, to serve and 'do his duty' by becoming a rear tail gunner flying 33 night missions for the RAF out of Lincolnshire UK during WW2; my older son Matthew (31) just finished 4 years in war-torn Afghanistan, working in the field of humanitarian aid and development for various NGOs, very often working closely with various countries' armed forces and ISAF and thankful for their presence.

Of maybe some small interest I was taking an Atlas cab a few years ago and the driver was a recent immigrant from Iran. I was wearing a poppy and he asked me what the reason was as he had seen various people in Montreal wearing them. I explained and he became very thoughtful and said he too would then wear a poppy.

Tragically war goes on and more young men and women, both the armed forces and civilians, are and will be struck down in their prime making the supreme sacrifice. The poppy is a potent reminder for us to reflect and remember...and to thank our veterans.

Thanks Nat. Have a good day.

Best regards,

Cheryl Buckley