Friday 12 November 2010

Thoughts on a Friday night...

Yesterday was Remembrance Day - at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, everything and everybody pauses for two minutes while we pay respect to those who fought in the wars that shaped history and our lives as we know them today. I bought my poppy and wear it proudly, but for me there was one particular veteran I miss dearly and that's my Granpa. He was always so proud of his British heritage and the time that he served his country as an army man - he would never talk about his time at war with us, but the small hints that he let slip about where he spent his time while he was in the army allowed us to put together some ideas about what he must have gone through. His funeral was very emotional for me and everything that was said only compounded the respect and the love I had for him. I remembered that yesterday when I remembered the sacrifices of the many.


They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.



I have some beautiful scrapbook embellishments with poppies that will be perfect for scrapping some of my memories of my Granpa, but not quite yet :)


Another great cause that played a part in my week was World Pneumonia Day which happened today! The charity encouraged everyone to wear blue today with the aim of raising awareness, and at The Scrappy Tree we tackled this in our own way as crafters and invited everyone to make something blue! The challenge closed yesterday and the overall winner was Joanna with this fantastic piece:

You can visit Joanna's blog here to see more of her wonderful work, she will have some blue scrappy goodies on their way to her soon, plus a $10 donation to World Pneumonia Day. Nine other entrants to the challenge also won a $10 donation in their name and you can enjoy some of the amazing talent that came forward and did their bit for World Pneumonia Day at this post at The Scrappy Tree.

This weekend I am hoping to go to a Zumba party, wish me luck :)
Gayle xx

4 comments:

Michelle said...

I miss my grandpa too. He joined the army late. He went into the service in the '40's. He was in his very early 30's when he joined. He ended up being stationed in Okinawa at the end of WWII to help with the clean up after the war ended. Greg's dad's father saw combat when he was stationed in the Philippines. He has a Japanese rifle and said he wasn't happy about how he had to get it. He will not talk about his time in the service. I know it is not good memories for him. I am grateful for them and all our other past and current servicemen for sacrificing so much to keep us safe.

This may seem like a silly question, but what is a zumba party?? I guess I live a pretty sheltered life!! LOL

Jaime Haney said...

That will be a nice piece to remember your Grandpa, make sure you share it if you can. Not sure how things are done where you're at, but here in the US, a military funeral is a real tear jerker with the 21 gun salute and the playing of "Taps". Anyone who has served deserves such respect.

I like the piece that won the Blue challenge, how do they determine who wins?

Anonymous said...

A lovely post, thank you so much for sharing.
x

Kristin said...

What a lovely story about your Grandpa,thanks for sharing that memory. Mine was my favorite person in the whole world too and I still miss him. There is something very special about a military funeral, I know Richard's dads was very emotional for all of us but I'm glad such attention is given to our fallen Heroes.