Je me souviens… I remember

This phrase is on the Quebec license plates and I thought it seemed fitting to use it in relation to Remembrance Day as we remember the brave men and women who fought for our freedom and continue to do so today.

I remember him every day but especially on 11th November. My dad served with the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders from 1942-1945.

During that time, he was granted leave to attend his brother Angus’s wedding. Little did he know at the time it would be the last time he saw his brothers and and sister, Chrissie again.

Angus and my father, along with two other brothers who served – William and Andrew – survived the fighting.

And during the horror of war, there were times to unwind and have a few light moments.

I don’t know who the man is in the photo with my father nor where the photos were taken. That information was blacked out on the back of the pictures as they had to clear the military standards so that locations and people weren’t compromised.

I wish I’d seen these before my father died. I could have asked him.

But on this 11th of November, I remember him and all the other soldiers who fought for our freedom.