In November of last year I found myself trying to explain to a 4year old why we wear Poppies. It went something like this.... A long time ago there was a war, and in that war were many brave men who fought to keep everyone they left at home safe. Some of those men came home but many of them died fighting and were buried in place called Flanders Field. In Flanders field there were lots of poppies growing, so we wear the poppies to remind us of those soldiers who died so that we could live safe in Canada. We also wear them to remind us that there are still soldiers all around the world who are fighting to keep us safe here in Canada.
"Oh that was very nice of them." was the response. I expected some thing like that. The next comment, I was not expecting. "Mommy can I write to a soldier and tell him Thank you for keeping me safe?" So I went online and started looking up information in order to fulfill that request. In my quest for the right information I found out that a friend of the family had just been sent to Kandahar. A few emails later and My daughter had a solider who was fighting to keep her safe. At least that's what she proceeded to tell people.
We typed up emails to Justin (her solider )in verbatim and he wrote back. The messages were written as only a 4 year old could, she leaped from one topic to the next and filled them with everything her little brain could think of. Diligently Justin replied to every question and made sure to ask ones of his own. Along with the emails that we sent Marie and Joey started fill a box. In the box went a story from each written with their words and illustrated by them. A hat knitted by Mommy because "it's cold in the desert at night, Grandpa told me so and Justin needs one cause he's in the desert!" Sour keys because "they're Justin's favorite". But, what she really wanted to put in the box were cookies that she made. Sadly we had to tell her we couldn't send them. Then we got an email with some very exciting news! Justin was coming home. The first question posed to me after we read the email was "When can I meet him Mommy?" The next was "Can I make him cookies Now?"
This last month a very excited little girl and little boy drove out to meet their solider at a gathering put on by his family. Along with hugs and kisses for Justin they brought their box, and in it with all their other presents were; cookies. I brought along my camera in hopes of catching some of the excitement, unfortunately everything happened so fast that I missed most of the initial greeting. I did get pictures of them giving Justin his box of goodies.
I am grateful to Justin and his family for helping me teach my children such important lesson about how lucky we are to be living in a place like Canada. We look forward to seeing them all again soon.
