I think I come from a fairly patriotic American family but when I moved to Canada I noticed a huge difference between the observation of Veterans Day versus the observation of Remembrance Day. There's just something BIG about the way Atlantic Canadians celebrate Remembrance Day. The veterans distribute poppies and almost everybody makes a donation and wears a poppy. Almost every community we've lived in has also had excellent turnout for their Remembrance Day ceremonies. We make sure we attend and have only missed one that I can remember. Robin often participates in his uniform. This year he chose to go into Halifax and he volunteered to stand at the Nova Scotia Fallen Peace Officers Monument at the Grand Parade.
I warned the kids ahead of time that it would be long and we probably wouldn't be able to see much and we might not hear anything. But this was a sign of respect for all the men and women who serve in the military. It was long for them, but at least we could hear. And when Gaëlle broke out, all by herself, with a rousing song of "Oh Canada", she had our section of crowd in laughter.
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