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Monday 11 November 2013

A Personal Remembrance Day

This is a day that is hard to get by.
My husband and I, with our son, spent over 26 years living the military way of life.
It gave things to us .. the experience of literally living from coast to coast in Canada.
Four amazing years living in the Netherlands and travelling through Europe.
Seeing where actual war was waged and it's still ingrained affects, was a profound time for our son and ourselves.
So many North Americans have no clue to the stark reality of war unless they are some how involved with a military life and having the chance to see the reality up close and personal.

It took things from us ... more than half of our marriage and time seeing our son grow up, was spent apart.
My husband is a Gulf War vet .. the first one in 1991.
He saw and experienced things that nightmares are made of.
It changed and disabled him permanently .. it also changed and disabled me.
The extreme stress of seeing a loved one go through hell for year after year, evokes physical and emotional damage beyond repair.
When this day comes it brings it all back to the surface, not only for ourselves but our thoughts for all past and present military families and what they are going through .. the connecting thread runs deep.
I post this rather personal tribute in honor of them and hope they keep strong and as well as possible.

5 comments:

Rose said...

Those of us who did not experience such things firsthand cannot imagine the hardships and tragedies that your husband and your family have experienced. I can only extend my thanks to him and to all in the military who have sacrificed so much to maintain our freedom in both our countries.

outlawgardener said...

A wonderful and thought provoking post. Thank you and all of the military families whose tremendous sacrifices have won and kept for so many the freedoms we enjoy. Bless you.

Nadezda said...

Joy,
you write so earnestly, I understand they are painful memories for you and your family.
I was a kid when I found out that my entire family died of starvation during the blockade in World War II.
You have a nice garden, happy gardening!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Rose girl ... Mr. TOG .. Nadezda
Thank you so much for stopping here and commenting .. I appreciate your kind thoughtfulness so very much!

GRACE PETERSON said...

Hi Joy. I'm late, as usual and trying to catch up. How are you doing? Thank you for sharing such a difficult time in your life.

Did you see 60 Minutes last night? The Veterans Admin. is finally using a comprehensive plan to help vets recover from PTSD. It really warmed my heart to see that.

Take care my friend and write when you can. Missing you.