Forgettance Day
Today is Remembrance Day throughout Canada, and it's hard to find a lapel without a poppy on Goderich square.
Every newspaper, every shop window,every billboard admonishes me not to forget.
Giant Tiger's billboard proclaims, "They died to keep us free".
A full page of the Super Saver is devoted to the phrase "Lest we forget".
For the past few days, I've witnessed a steady procession of uniformed veterans held up for my admiration on the news. Nearly all of them are in their seventies and eighties, and those younger than thirty wore the blue beret of the United Nations peacekeeping forces.
When Candians think of veterans, they think of grandpa and great grandpa. When Americans think of veterans, they think of dad, mom, or the boy next door.
Maybe it's not such a bad thing to forget. Fewer wars mean fewer veterans; fewer veterans mean fewer memories of veterans. Will Canadians remember to honour veterans if they can no longer think of a face to match the term?
Maybe some day we'll celebrate "Forgettance day": A special holiday in the far distant future when we celebrate the fact that no one alive can remember the horrors of war. What's warfare like? We don't remember, and that's a good thing.
It's my hope that Canada will one day have no more living veterans to honour.
Every newspaper, every shop window,every billboard admonishes me not to forget.
Giant Tiger's billboard proclaims, "They died to keep us free".
A full page of the Super Saver is devoted to the phrase "Lest we forget".
For the past few days, I've witnessed a steady procession of uniformed veterans held up for my admiration on the news. Nearly all of them are in their seventies and eighties, and those younger than thirty wore the blue beret of the United Nations peacekeeping forces.
When Candians think of veterans, they think of grandpa and great grandpa. When Americans think of veterans, they think of dad, mom, or the boy next door.
Maybe it's not such a bad thing to forget. Fewer wars mean fewer veterans; fewer veterans mean fewer memories of veterans. Will Canadians remember to honour veterans if they can no longer think of a face to match the term?
Maybe some day we'll celebrate "Forgettance day": A special holiday in the far distant future when we celebrate the fact that no one alive can remember the horrors of war. What's warfare like? We don't remember, and that's a good thing.
It's my hope that Canada will one day have no more living veterans to honour.
