It is early in the morning, shops are opening for business and I am sitting quietly at a table, it is Oct. 29, 2010, the first day of the poppy campaign.

I watch people going about their business, some hunting for change, a woman asks, “Can I have six poppies for $10, I want to give them to my grandchildren to wear.”

On the surface it appears to be just like any other Saturday, but it isn’t. It’s that time of year, and people are thinking as they walk by this little table, they are thinking about their support for veterans. I am touched by it all.

People, young, some not so young, but they all take time to say hello and help to fill that small box that is important to so many people. We have so much to be grateful for here at home.

It is a special time of year for me, when my thoughts turn to my brother. I am mindful of the great debt we owe to our armed forces, veterans, brave men and women, thank you all.

The poppy is a visual reminder of far distant lands, a symbol of peace and remembrance. We are rich in the things that matter most to us, Canada earned that, but not without cost.

Sometimes it seems that our cost is too high – is there a but to that?

Watching those flag draped coffins reach Canadian soil, a life given for freedom, a voice that won’t be silenced even in death.

IN FLANDER FIELDS THE POPPIES BLOW….

Lest we forget!

Gail Parks

Red Deer