Remembering

Unfortunately, real life has kept me from doing much on the BBQs these past couple of weeks, so I have nothing BBQ-related to post about today.

Instead, I want to share with you a brief moment I had tonight in the parking lot of a local restaurant, one that has really made me pause and think.

I took my 3 kids to Boston Pizza, and we ate a standard "Dinner with Little Kids" meal. The meal itself was uneventful, but as we were piling into the Barrhaven Tank (A standard issue Caravan when living in the suburban community of Barrhaven), we noticed another van pulling into the spot directly in front of us. In it, was an elderly couple, and on the van was a veteran's license plate. In my Province, Ontario, the Ministry of Transportation will issue special Veteran's license plates to members of our Armed Forces and veterans of conflicts.

With November 11th approach, everyone's awareness is raised, and I saw an opportunity to express gratitude and to teach my watching kids a valuable lesson. I left the van and approached the exiting passenger, a woman of ~75+ years of age. I asked, "Excuse me, ma'am. I see you have a Veteran's plate on your van." I was expecting a proud smile, but that is not what I saw. She visibly withdrew, only a fraction of an inch, but i saw it. She then said, apprehensively, "Yyyes." Right away, I saw that she was almost afraid, as though she was preparing for an unpleasant conversation. I smiled (as disarmingly as a guy like me can...I might have come across as a little serial-killerish, though), and said, "I just wanted to say 'thank you' , do you have a Veteran in the car? Is that him?" I pointed to the tall, white-haired man, helping some young children, perhaps his Grandkids or Great Grandkids, out of the van. She said he was, and I approached him. I extended my hand, shook his, looked him in the eye and gave thanks to the man for his service. I told him that we ought to be grateful for 365 days a year instead of one and wished him a good night.

Feeling very pleased with myself, I got in the van and told my kids, "Look at that man, he is a hero, kids. He was a soldier in a war and fought so that we can live the fantastic life we all have". "Do you know him, Daddy?" No. "Then, why were you talking to him?" Excellent. The drive home was spent talking, at a high level, about war, sacrifice and of the kids' great great uncles who were lost in WWII.

In the back of my mind though, I was thinking, "Why was that woman defensive and scared like that? Are people so callous as to give her a hard time for their participation in the political incorrectness of war? Are we that desensitized to the sacrifices of our soldiers, from all of the conflicts? Do people criticize her in some poorly misguided sense of anti-war sentiment? Or did I just look like a creepy serial killer in the Boston Pizza parking lot? For their sake, I hope it was the latter.

I am glad to have been able to thank that man. I am proud of the enlisted friends I have, both American and Canadian, all serving their countries and their respective Armed Forces. I want to thank you all for fighting to ensure that people like me can enjoy the freedom to BBQ 365 days a year, or to hug my kids whenever I want. I am grateful every day a the year, not just this Friday.

Thank you.