November 11, 2019: REMEMBRANCE Day

The time of the year to pay tribute – to reflect, to remember and to honor all the brave veterans who risked their lives in the past and in the present so we can live in peace, which reminds us that in fact freedom does have a price!

Red poppies are symbolizing our remembrance & white poppies are symbolizing a peaceful future.

Below is a briefing I wrote some time ago, which I find timely re-sharing.

Honoring a beloved grandfather

Each year, during the “Remembrance Day” (on November 11, in Canada) the picture of one of my beloved grandfathers, who was also a veteran of the Second World War & a scientist in his civilian life, comes to me so vividly, melting my heart more than ever!

My grandfather was a very kind and wise man, who had a tremendous respect for life. As I was growing up, often he was sharing with us kids extremely valuable stories featuring an enormous understanding and a profound respect for this precious gift called ‘life’ skillfully encompassing a multitude of facets.

It was autumn when he transitioned (many, many years ago) and my parents organized a funeral attended by all the notable and less notable names in the city at that time; for 3 days, our house was full of those people who kept coming to pay their last respects to him. At that time I was a teenager, but I still remember very clearly that on the second day of his funerals at the gates of our residence a significant group of beggars did show up, all of them crying and being in distress. Both my parents were quite concerned to see them there especially since nobody invited them and none of us knew who they are, but after my father approached them to see what is going on (I was shadowing my father very closely) to our surprise we’ve learned that they knew my grandfather (by his name to our further surprise) for a number of years because during his walks as a retired person each time he would’ve seen beggars on the street he either would’ve give them some money to eat, or would’ve take them to the closest restaurant to feed them, or would’ve have a good encouraging word for them or giving them some good advice for life, or would’ve take them with him to the closest pharmacy if they would’ve need to buy medicine and they didn’t have any money. I recall that my father spent a number of hours with those beggars hearing from each of them their story of how did they meet my grandfather. My mother was there too as well as the rest of the family. Beyond any doubt we all were extremely surprised as none of us knew all these things, because my grandfather never told us of how many people did he help; we all knew that he was a good man helping many people but we never knew that he was helping beggars and homeless people as well…we found out all these stories at his funerals, after he passed away and our hearts were deeply, deeply touched!

His entire life, my grandfather was a very humble person even though he was a known scientist in his circles. His modesty, his strong integrity, his dignity, the respect he always extended to each soul (no matter of the social status), his attitude of being of total unconditional service to each soul he would’ve met, his good deeds, his grace and more than anything else his deep respect for life in itself, offered him a special place in the hearts of all who knew him as he was always the embodiment of these virtues.

Many years after he transitioned, each time I went to visit him at his last resting place I always found at his monument new different bouquets with fresh flowers brought by people who knew him.
He was a beautiful soul, a brave veteran (he received a number of decorations for his bravery during the WWII, while saving many lives under harsh conditions), a wonderful grandfather, a loving father & a tender husband.
Even now, after so many years, his image and his voice are still resonating in my heart, while his timeless life teachings to me are truer than ever.

Love you, grandpa! Honor you, grandpa! Miss you deeply, grandpa!

"Silence" (video clip)