Today I had some important banking to do for work, so I drove over to our branch, parked the car, walked up to the door and…
Nothing.
“What the…?”
Then I saw the note posted on the door. “Darn! It’s Remembrance Day!”
“Why can’t I get a day off on Remembrance Day too?” I muttered to myself, being annoyed at the inconvenience.
I looked at the watch, it was around lunch time, so I decided to stop by McDonald’s to grab a quick bite before heading back to the office. I noticed that the lines at McDonald’s are shorter than usual, I guess because some people are not at work today. “Well, I guess that’s one good thing that comes out of this day.”
It was then that I saw him.
He was a frail elderly gentleman, sitting by himself at a table, having coffee. He was wearing his military medals. I assumed he must have come from taking part in one of the Remembrance Day ceremonies around the city. He sat there all alone, just staring into his coffee.
Perhaps he was thinking of friends and comrades who did not come home with him from the war. May be he was thinking of what their lives could have been together. Whatever it was, today meant a whole lot more to him than a day off for the banks and shorter lines at McDonald’s.
Every now and then life offers you fleeting moments where you see things truly in proper perspective. As I stood there holding my lunch, I saw in this elderly gentleman all that I have been given. The life I live today was made possible because of sacrifices made by him and others like him. Because of them my little girl could leave her life of being an abandoned orphan and come to this country where she is blossoming into her future. As it is so often the case in these fleeting moments of proper vision, I was left feeling grateful for all I have been given.
I put down my lunch, walked over to his table to shake his hand. “Sir, thank you for all you have given to my family.”
He looked up from his coffee, with a weary smile said to me, “You’re welcome.”
May we always remember.
May we give our lives to build a world where never again will someone has to die so that others can live; where no one will need to be imprisoned so that others may live free.
May we remember what we have been given, and live on to continue to give of ourselves:
“To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.”
