Around sunset we visited a cenotaph to leave our poppies. We chose to do this in one of our region's smaller towns-- the town where my grandfather was born, and where his cousin Nathaniel's name is one of those engraved on the memorial. As we were approaching the cenotaph I thought "I think I recognize that grainy, 100+ year old photo..." but as I knew my dad had spoken to the President of the local Legion about having one of these banners made for NEXT year, I thought I must have been wrong. Besides, there are probably a lot of these old photos that look kind of alike, with poor quality and the same uniforms and all... but nope, I was right! There was a familiar face smiling down on me from the light standard next to the cenotaph.
Many smaller towns or communities within larger cities have banners like this these days. Families generally sponsor them, and my dad wanted one for Nathaniel but inquired after the deadline, so the plan was to have it made for 2024. It's very odd because the man he was talking to was the President of the Legion branch, and he didn't mention that a banner had already been made. Oh well, we'll sort that part out later... it just made this a very unexpected find.
Nathaniel was killed in the battle of Amiens, three months before the Armistice. He has no known grave, but is remembered on the Vimy Memorial in France as well as on local cenotaphs in both Waterloo Region (where he grew up) and Perth County (where he was living/working when he enlisted). His only sibling was a little sister with whom my grandfather was very close. They were both the only surviving siblings in their families and had each lost a big brother (Nathaniel to the war; my uncle to childhood illness), and they became honourary siblings to each other.
(Although I haven't been playing along with the One Week challenge so far, I saw this kind of fits the theme for today, so I am tagging it anyway. I know rules tend to be flexible around here, so I hope that's ok!)
