HOW'S IT GOING?

How are you doing with your Christmas preparations?  Are you putting up decorations, sending cards, baking, shopping?

Remember when I posted that I was busy crocheting snowflakes and stitching ornaments for cards?  Remember I was going to get lots done?

Not happening!

I'm not really sure why that is.  It seems everything I have started to make this fall has ended up on the spare bed, either unfinished or ripped out.  I started mittens, and hats - finished 2 pair of mittens of  the 6 pair I planned to make, and haven't done any more.  I started 3 hats, and have since ripped all three off the needles.

I have done a bit better with the stitching - I have completed 4 ornaments... but have about 5 more unfinished.

It seems to be a growing trend with me - I am crafting less and less.

But I am doing much more with my music and photography, and I am writing more and more.

In fact since digging out the huge box of old pictures, cards and documents, I have really been thinking about writing another book.  When I start "thinking" about writing a book - the same thing always happens - it takes over my brain and a major part of my life for the time I am contemplating, planning and indeed "writing" purely in my thoughts.

This is where I am at the moment - writing in my head - forming characters, scenes, even conversations.  In this particular case, I already have all that, because the book I am thinking of writing is about my people, my family, myself.

My piano has once again taken over a major portion of my day.  Since I had my piano repaired and tuned in September, it has become the spot in my home where you will find me several times a day.  My piano has never sounded so good as since I had the soundboard and bridge repaired.  I am constantly amazed at the sound I am getting from it.   I also hope to expand my teaching, and get more students in the New Year, because of all the things I put my heart, mind and hands to - teaching is the one thing that gives me the most satisfaction of all.

To be able to pass on my training, knowledge and love of music is a gift that until now I have not harvested enough.

So to answer my own questions - Christmas preparations are at a minimum here.  No baking, no shopping, some cards and some decorations... and that might just be as good as it's going to get.

SOMETHING FOR THE CHILDREN!

Christmas is such a busy time for most people who celebrate it, and it's also become such a commercial event that for someone my age and perhaps older, it has lost some of the wonder and magic it held when we were much younger.

I am not talking about the "meaning" of Christmas - that is not lost to many of us, but by the magic I mean the spirit within the heart -  of kindness, selflessness -  of giving.

Children feel the excitement of Christmas perhaps more than adults.  This certainly has always been true, and we can only blame ourselves ( the adults) for continuing to perpetuate the "I want" mentality that so many children seem to have at Christmas time.

When I was a child, mother's tried their best to curb the " I want" mindset, because they knew that on a single income ( most Mom's back then did not work out of the house) that chances were their children might get only one of their "I wants", and perhaps none of them.  Not to say they wouldn't get a gift - they would - just maybe not what they asked for.

So wise Mom's encouraged their children to make gifts to give to others.  It was a way of keeping the children busy, but also a way of teaching the value of using your hands to create somethings special and teaching children the value of gift giving.

A child will get much more pleasure from making something with their hands and giving it as a gift, than they will going to the dollar store and picking out something for a couple of dollars to give as a gift.

SO...

In the spirit of keeping little hands and minds busy, and in the spirit of teaching the value gift giving and giving joy to others without having to spend a lot of money -  I am offering parents, grandparents and anyone else who has a couple of minutes, (because that is all this craft will take) a very simple, lovely little craft for your children to make and give as a gift, or even use to adorn the one bought at the dollar store.  This can be used as an ornament to hang on a tree, or in a window,in any room of the home... it can even be left out all year long.

The gift will give many times over - time spent with your child, and more important, they with you.  Pride in creating something with their own hands ( because children really do love to work with their hands) and a gift to give to someone special.

TWIG STARS

Materials needed:

Twigs

Garden shears or scissors

strong thread or string

Ribbon or fabric strips.

glue (optional)

Instructions:

cut 5 twigs in 6 inch lengths.

tie 2 twigs together near the ends, with strong thread ( I used crotchet cotton) or thin string, winding the tread around the several times and trying a firm not.  You may need to hold the sticks together while the child wraps or knots or visa versa.

Repeat with another 2 sticks.

lay on set on the table with the ties tip to the top.  Lay the second set over the other with the tied end pointing to side.

Weave the untied  ends of the top set over and under the bottom sticks and then tie the bottom two sticks together as show - but do a better job of aligning those two sticks before you tie them - I had to fix mine.

 

Take the remaining stick and tie it to the stick at the top left, and to the bottom right stick. so you will now have 5 points.

 

you will be able to make adjustments to your star at this point as the middle can be moved around some...  If you want, this is where you can add a drop of glue to the middle joins where there is not string to add stability.  If you did not weave the stick over and under each other, you will need to add glue for sure.


Cut strips of fabric and tie with a knot over the thread where you have joined the sticks.

 If you don't have fabric, you could use ribbon.  Dollar store has inexpensive festive ribbons at this time of the year, if it is too wide just cut it thinner.

Trim fabric.

Add a piece of fabric or string or threat to the top of the star for a hanger.

You are done.














Other options...

If you want to get really fancy, glue and glitter could be added to make the star shimmer, or it could be sprayed with a glitter pain ( by and adult).  Or they could even be painted with acrylic paints.  If you choose to do any of these additional steps, don't add the fabric or ribbon to the ends until you are done decorating.

Also you can make these larger or smaller - just make sure your twigs are all cut the same size....

HAPPY CRAFTING !

CHANGE HAPPENS WHEN WE TRY!

I know a lot of my readers here, also follow me on Facebook, both on my personal page and on my Erndale's page.

There are so many times when I say to myself -  "I'm done with Facebook" - I can't stand the politics, the rudeness, the obviously sad state of our world and the people in it, the pictures of mutilated animals, the anger, the stupidity...

But then I will see a post that truly inspires me - some kindness from one to another, some beautiful photography shared by someone who just "caught a moment", some words of encouragement, something incredibly funny, a really cool pattern, a recipe....

Then I'm okay with it again for awhile.

I know a lot of people have left FB - they have moved on to other social media platforms and have no desire to return.

Personally, aside from my Blog page - one social media platform is all I can handle.  I just don't want to spend so much time on the Internet when there is a whole world right outside my door that is much more interesting.

I decided to see if I could do something different that would start some conversation - good conversation.  So I dug through some photos of friends, family, events - and I have been putting a new photo on my page every second day and encouraging people to respond.

To my amazement - people have been responding, especially on the really old photos when they are trying to figure out who is on the picture.

There is genuine "talk" going on - no put-downs - no anger - no criticism... just chatter about the picture, and maybe a little bit more sharing between people who might not have shared to each other for a very long time.

Facebook could be so much more than it has become - but it takes us as individuals to make that change.  Of course our tiny little posts and "talk" aren't going to attract the big sponsors who bring the money and make great things happen...

But then, I have never found great things happen when they are attached to money anyway...

Give it a try on your page - yes, it takes a bit of work to hunt for photo's, but try it and I think you might be pleasantly surprised at the response you get...

Change happens when we try -

Not when we sit quiet in the background and dream of it...

CARDS FROM THE OLD COUNTRY!

The old country - there is something you seldom hear from any one's lips anymore.  When I was a child, Europe was always referred to as the "Old Country".  When did it stop being the Old Country, and become Europe?

My maternal grandparents were both from the "Old Country"... and when they came to Canada they left behind families that continued to communicate with them through cards and postcards until their deaths.

I am very fortunate to have these treasures from the past.

If any of you can read the salutations on the back, which I have included with each card, I would be very grateful to have some interpretation.

All these are post-cards... I have given you the front and back of each card.  I love the handwriting on the back almost as much as I love the cards...

___________

_______________

_______________

This last one is obviously an Easter card - kind of a scary image, but does have a signature on it, so I will look up the artist.

Isn't it wonderful what you find in forgotten boxes in the back of the closet?

LAST WEEK, THE WEEKEND, AND THE WEEK TO COME!

I sincerely hope everyone had pleasant weekend.  I imagine my American friends and family will be busy preparing for this year's Thanksgiving celebrations which happens later this week.

Weekends don't have quite the same meaning to me as they used to, they never were a restful couple of days for me, anyway.  When I was working I saved a lot of chores for my "weekends off" and ended up working harder on the weekend than I did through the week.  Now that every day is my weekend, I no longer stock-pile chores for the weekend, but now I am finding my weekends are busy because of other people's schedules, not so much my own.

But in the end, a day is a day - which day it is makes no difference.  We should make each day count, and be thankful for it, because there are many who will only have this one last day.

I was asked to  take some family photos for Christmas Cards for a family here in town - and so that is what I did on Saturday.  My subjects were a little more challenging than my usual sunsets, flowers, bees, barns.... instead I had 6 pairs of eyes, hands and feet to keep immobile for that "one good shot".

I actually think I got more than one good shot, and a whole lot of what I would call the best shots - the imperfect ones. 

Later in the afternoon, three little boys arrived at my door with a plate of homemade donuts fresh from their Mom's kitchen.

Breathless exclamations of how they helped make them, how many they each ate, how good they were, and a quick visit with Chip, and the refreshing visit was over  as they had ornaments to hang in the back yard that they had made for the birds from pine cones.

I'm still smiling!

All this following an exciting week centered around a visiting Cougar from nearby Riding Mountain National Park.

On Wednesday last week a cougar was found in a tree on a property in town.  As you can imagine, it caused quite a stir to everyone here.

  The game wardens were called in, and they attempted to shoot it with a tranquilizer gun, but somehow the cougar got away.  For several days it was tracked just beyond town to a property that has a dense bush area.

To be honest, the citizens here have not been informed if indeed the cougar is gone.  Rumor has it, that it has returned to the park, but nothing official has been said by anyone in authority.

So, for the meantime, I have stopped my early morning ( dawn) walks.  I have to admit, even when I am out and about during the day, I am constantly on the alert.  I suppose it will take some time, to get over that feeling that something may be watching from where I cannot see it.

So, it's a new week - lets embrace it, and make the most of every day of it.

Whatever you do this week - make it count.

I can't wait to see what this week offers us!

YOU TELL ME!

I have been thinking about my post from the other day about playing the organ at the church in Waldersee.  That whole experience is still on my mind, along with so many questions about how I came to be sitting on that organ bench in the first place.

You might be correct in thinking that I have overreacted to many things I talked about in that post.  Maybe like one of my brother's you believe that I only say things to charm people my way. 

It has taken me several days to write this post, and it has revealed to me something that I do believe in very strongly.  At this point, I have to thank my Mother for furnishing me with dates and facts, because there is no way I would be able to remember any of this... but she wrote every life event on her calendar all year long.  At the end of that year she sat down at her desk and transferred everything she had written into a spiral notebook.  I have the notebook that covers 1966-1980... and reading through it is an incredible journey all of it's own.

So - here's the reason I cannot get last Sunday out of my mind.

. . . 

Do you remember seeing this old photo on that blog?  I am not sure what year this was taken, I'd say sometime in the mid to late 1930's.

The picture is taken on my Grandparents farm here in Manitoba -  the grandparents whom attended the Waldersee Church their entire lives.

The man with the black vest is my grandfather.  The girl in white beside him is my mother, and the girl beside her with the black dress and white collar - is my Mother-in -law!  Yes - Gary's mother, Olga Mantey... born, raised and lived her whole life in Chicago Illinois.

The lady beside her holding the child and the man beside her with the hat, are my Mom's sister Ida, and her husband my Uncle Jake.  They both were born and raised in and around Waldersee, but had moved to Chicago and lived next door to my Mother-in law's parents.  (Gary's grandparents)

Aunt Ida and Uncle Jake came up to visit the family, and decided to bring along the young girl who lived next door, because they knew they had a sister ( my Mom) back in Manitoba who was around the same age.

So my first question is  - Who does that sort of thing... goes home to see family and takes the young daughter of their neighbour's on a road trip to a different country for a few weeks?

Apparently they did.

So even though according to the picture it looks like the two young girls had been friends for a very long time, they had only met for the first time during this visit.

After that visit, they would not meet again for another fifteen or so years, when Olga - this time married to Gary's father and their little girl, Jane come to Manitoba to visit my my Mother, now married to my Dad with three young boys of their own, and living on a farm they rented north of the town of Plumas.

That would be the last time Erna and Olga would see each other for another 30 years.  They continued to correspond through Christmas Cards once a year.

In April  1980 I quit my nursing job and decided to take a few months off nursing to do some travelling and generally visit my family.  The first place I decide to travel to is Janesville Wisconsin to see my Aunt Margaret.

I set off for a month's visit on May 3, 1980.

While I am gone, my Mother gets a letter from Olga, asking if it would be okay for  her and her son Gary to come up for a visit.  Of course my mother says yes, and plans are made.

I leave Janesville for home on June 8 - driving straight through, stopping for only food and washroom breaks,  taking I- 90 to I- 29 then Hwy 75 once I crossed the border.  I arrive home tired but happy to be home June 8  around 9pm.

Olga and Gary leave for Winnipeg on June 8- taking I- 90 to I- 29 then Hwy 75 once they cross the boarder.  But they stop overnight in Minnesota and arrive in Winnipeg one day later.

Do you find this just a little weird, that we are on the same highway, on the same day, going to the same place - only we don't know it?

I meet Olga and Gary for the first time, and at first I believe we must be somehow related, because until now, I never really knew they existed.  Perhaps my parents did mention them, but if they did I had no recollection of it.

Gary and I hit it off, immediately.  We are so alike in so many ways, and we talk and talk and talk for the days of their visit, and when they leave for home - I cry!

We spend two years travelling back and forth to see each other then decide to get married. We get engaged, but before the next year is over, we break up and go our separate ways.

My Mom passes away very suddenly the next year ( March 1984),  and I struggle with the decision to let Olga know... I struggle because of Gary.  But I send a note to Olga, and the next thing I know, Gary is at my door.  Before he leaves, the engagement ring is back on my finger and I am making plans to move and be married in Chicago.

I move to Chicago in August 1984, and we are married in October that year.  We settle down to married life and are very content and happy. 

One Year later Gary loses his long-time position at Swift & Co.  Economic hardship is everywhere and he can't get a job.  We stick it out for another year but then decide perhaps job prospects would be better in Canada, so we decide to move back to Winnipeg. 

We live happily in Winnipeg for 19 years, have a family, buy a home and all is well until I lose my job in 2015.  At almost 60 yrs of age, there are no jobs for me, so we decide I should retire.  But, we still have a mortgage and a son living at home, so we look for options.  If we could find a nice property somewhere outside of the city, we could then afford to retire.

We look online for weeks and eventually find our new home in a small town, 30 minutes away from WALDERSEE, and we pick up stakes and move to the country.

Gary starts doing spiritual care work at the personal care home, and providing Sunday church services for the Anglican church in town.  After he leaves that position a year later he in summer of this year he is offered a monthly position performing the lay service at Christ Lutheran church is Waldersee.

I am asked by the congregation to play the organ for services that are led by Gary, and I start doing that November 2018.

Do you see the circle that started in 1935?  It has taken 83 years - but it has come around and joined itself together.

Now  do you believe me when I say it's not simple?

But maybe it really is very simple.  I believe it is as simple as a single hand guiding events through 83 years.

You be the judge - is this all:

Fate

Destiny

or

 A Real GOD Moment.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Mid-late 1930's Erna Rossnagel and Olga Mantey meet in Waldersee Manitoba.

Around 1950  - Olga, Barth and Jane Graumann from Chicago Illinois, visit Joe and Erna Fischer on their farm near Plumas Manitoba.

1953 - Joe, Erna, and their three sons move to Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1955 - Dale is born in Winnipeg Manitoba

1956  - Gary is born in Chicago, Illinois.

May3, 1980 - Dale travels to Janesville Wisconsin to visit her Aunt Margaret for a month's vacation.

June 8,  1980 - Dale returns home from Janesville Wisconsin

June 9 , 1980 - Olga and Gary arrive to visit Erna and family, and Gary and Dale meet for the first time.

October 1982 - Gary and Dale are engaged

1983  - Gary and Dale call off the engagement, and break up.

March 1984 - Erna passes away.

June 1984 - Gary returns to visit Dale and Joe.

August 1984  - Dale moves to Chicago

October 1984 - Dale and Gary are married.

1985 - Gary loses employment

1986 - We move back to Winnipeg hoping to secure better jobs.

1986-2015 - We live in Winnipeg in our home with no intentions to moving or retiring until I lose my job in 2105.

2015 - we retire and move to a town 30 minutes from Waldersee, after seeing a property on the Internet, which had originally been sold, and then the deal fell through, making the property available to us.

2018 - Gary starts providing church services at Christ Lutheran church in Waldersee,  and Dale plays the organ for church services.

BEAUTY FROM THE 1940'S!

I know some of my readers make their own greeting cards and tags.  I have received handmade cards for many years which are so gorgeous, that I still have them in a box in my studio.  It is an art form all of it's own, and it also has become a very popular and expensive craft to get into.

When I was going through things in the studio these past few weeks, I came across an old scrapbook that belonged to my Mom.  I showed you some of the cards I found there in my Lest We Forget post, but there are many more beautiful old Christmas cards I wanted to share with you.

Most of the cards have come loose from the scrapbook, so I took them out and had a really good look at them.

Most are from the 1940's,  and all are made from a single sheet of paper - ordinary weight paper ( like copy paper weight) and they are just folded in four to make a card.

I have to tell you  -  they are gorgeous.  All these years they have survived in the old scrapbook they were glued into - without the aid of acid protectors or any other protective covering they now tell us we need in order to protect paper-related products.

Looking at these beautiful cards makes me wonder why all this money is spent on card making supplies, when we can make them from a simple sheet of paper.  And more so - it makes me want to try and make some of these simple and beautiful cards, myself.

I took some pictures of a few of them for you.  The pictures don't really do them justice, but perhaps will give you an idea of just how simple they really are.  I took three photos of each so you can see how they are made.

If you can draw, you could make these so personal.  You could also cut images from old cards to put behind the cutouts like  3rd card below.  Those of you who have stamps, could use those.

You could add glitter, ribbon, braid... but I don't think you would want anything too heavy as it is just paper and not card stock.

I am going to tea dye a few sheets of copy paper and give a card a try.   I am no artist, but I might even try drawing a winter scene  - it doesn't have to be elaborate - simple will do.

So, my friends - take up the challenge with me - lets see what we can do to create some very special handmade cards for those special people we send cards to this Christmas.



Card #1

 

 

Card #2

 

Card#3

 

Card #4

  

Card #5

 

Card #6

The candle image is a small post-card.

And this one is just a little single postcard - I love it...

I also found a bunch of very old cards from Germany, sent to my Grandparents in the 1940's.

I will share those in a separate post very soon.

Enjoy!

FINISHED WINDOW, AND SOME SNOW FOLKS!

I finished my old window yesterday.  It's not quite finished the way I really want it, but for now, it will do.  I still haven't found the mirror spray in any stores around here, so I might just wait until after the New Year and order it online.  It's too cold to be spraying anything outside, anyway - that job might have to wait for spring.

But, I really wanted it up for Christmas - so I cleaned it, hung it on the wall and yesterday I decorated it.

Funny that - originally I thought I wanted to hang a wreath on it - and I did try that, but it just wasn't right for my room.  So in the end, I decided to keep it simple.  It does pick up and reflect a lot of light coming in from the big west facing window, and our tree will be there, so no doubt it will reflect the lights from the tree as well.  So I simply hung three glass ornaments and three new handmade crochet snowflakes.

This project cost me 10.00 total.  I paid 20.00 for 2 windows this one is the inside and I still have the identical outside window to do something with. 

The glass balls were free, I found them at our local recycle place in the summertime.  I made the snowflakes from cotton I have had for years, and the ribbon was some that was in the box of craft supplies given to me from my Aunt Margaret's stash.

 below... a little closer look so you can see the snowflakes better.

I love this piece and it is going to be a beautiful mirror whenever I get that done - which still will be able to be decorated in much the same way for the holidays.

I decided to start putting my snowmen collection out, so down under the basement stairs I went and started hauling out totes of decorations.  The kitchen is the "Snow Zone"  All the snowmen are showcased here, and lucky for me, my kitchen is so long they sort of get lost in the big space so it is not overwhelming.

These are  now on a shelf over my sink...

and these are on another shelf on the wall.

I still have more to put out, some will go on my old kitchen cabinet, and every window in the kitchen will be decorated with a few snowflakes which I have also collected and made over the years.

So let the decorating begin!

A GIFT FOR ME - FOR THEM - FOR ALL!

Yesterday was a very special day for me, one that I think I will carry in my heart for the rest of my life.

This day should have happened a month ago, but a snow storm and a stomach flu prevented it from occurring then... so yesterday was the day.

I played the organ for the church service at the little church in Waldersee Manitoba - which as it turned out this month happened to be the Remembrance Day Service.  I have talked about this church and it's significance to my family here before, but even I was surprised at how I would react to this event.

Yesterday was the first time I played the organ in that church before a congregation, and other than one very brief practice three weeks ago, that particular organ was unknown to me.  I am not an organist, I am a pianist, so playing any organ is a challenge for me, but I said I would do it - so I did.

I was so nervous, but the hymns I had to play were very familiar to me, I had played them for years on the piano... so how difficult could it be?

My Prelude was beautiful - played just as I imagined - and then came the Opening Hymn.  I played a full verse as an introduction and then the congregation started to sing.  The one thing I remember so vividly about attending this church as a child with my Mother or with Aunts and Uncles, was the way the people in this congregation sang.  Full out - pour your heart into the music and the poetry - mouths wide open, straight from the diaphragm - LOUD!

I teared up by the second bar of music, and by the middle of the first verse, I couldn't even see the music.  My hands stumbled, I fumbled, and I started to panic.

But then the most extraordinary thing happened.  I thought of my Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles who rest just beyond those church walls in the little cemetery behind the church.

 

 I thought of how happy and yes, how proud, they would be to know that I was here, playing in their beloved church - something that was so far out of any realm of possibilities in my life, until now.

My hands steadied, my eyes cleared and I put my heart into the task at hand.  No more fumbles, mistakes, tears - just music, along with this incredible peace and contentment in what I was doing.

The service ended... and I was applauded!

Can you imagine - applause - for me!  Just for a moment those tears threatened again...  I was thanked over and over and over again for giving them all music to sing to.  I never imagined that they would be so overjoyed to hear a pianist play an organ - but they were - and then some.

I left the church feeling like I had been given the most precious gift.  It was a morning I won't forget...ever.

When I got home I went straight to the piano bench and dug out my Advent music.  In one month's time I will be playing again - and I am going to give them as much Advent music as I can squeeze into the service.

This gift goes beyond me and beyond the congregation... This gift is flowing out the doors of this beautiful place to the beyond. 

For me - for them - for All!

LEST WE FORGET!

Christmas 1944

Dear Erna and Family,

First, many thanks for the nice sympathy card and letter you sent us.  That was so thoughtful of you.  Auntie sure did appreciate it.  Really I am so ashamed of myself for not writing oftner to you, we have had so many nice letters from you, and I am so lazy in writing, but please forgive me.

Last week we had a letter from Gust and he is here in Victoria B.C. again.  He said he would try and spend Christmas with is again this year.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?

You said in your last letter that Joe had a brother in the army, did he have to go overseas yet?  Sure hope not.  I haven't heard where my brother Eddie is for months.  About one month ago one of Herman's nieces got word from the government that her husband got killed in Holland, that sure was a big shock to us, because we were always together with them.  I still can't believe that he is dead, they have a little girl 9 months old, the baby never got to see her Daddy.  Oh if this war would only end.

Herman is out of the war age now, so I don't have to worry about him, but I still think about all the other boys that have to go.

Herman had to go back to work tonight for a few hours, so Mother and Ralph went to a show and I said I was going to stay home and do my Christmas writing, this is my 14th card so please excuse my scribbling as my fingers are getting tired.

Will send you 2 pictures, one of Herman and myself and one of Mother, Ralph and Herman.  They were taken last summer just after Ralph was confirmed.

Well lets hope to hear from you sometime soon.

Your Cousin
Emma

I found the letter above in this old Christmas card that was in a scrapbook that belonged to my Mother.  I haven't looked in the scrapbook for years and years, but for some reason I felt the need to get it out of the box it is always in and look through the pages.  Mom so kindly wrote the dates on the back of her cards, and almost every card in this one particular scrapbook is from the years of WW11.

My own life has never been touched by war, but war touched my parent's life very early in their time together as man and wife.  They were married in wartime, far away from their home and families  because my Dad was working in the nickel mines in Quebec because he could not enlist due to a heart murmur.

There are many many cards from friends and family in the scrapbook, but a few special ones strike my gratitude to the men and women who fought and still fight, for the freedoms we take for granted today and everyday.

This one is from my Dad's best friend, Armand... he was a young pilot that never came home from war.

 

And this one from my Uncle Scott, my Dad's brother.  Uncle Scott did come home, he lived a full long life, raised a family, and was a wonderful uncle, whom I will never forget.

And I said that war had not touched my life.   How wrong could I possibly be?  War touches all our lives in one way or another.  

God Bless Those who protect our Country, our Cities, our Neighbourhoods.  

Let's Never Forget Them!