Do you wear a poppy? Why or why not?
Written by: Julie Ovenell-CarterI was visiting Montreal, Quebec last November when an American tourist stopped me on the street and asked, “Why is everyone wearing those little red flowers on their coats?”
Until then I hadn’t realized that in North America, the tradition of wearing a poppy as a remembrance of the horrors of war was unique to Canada.
Since 1921, the Royal Canadian Legion has sold tens of millions of velveteen poppies in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11. Every year, more than half of all Canadians pin one to their lapels.
It was only by reading the Legion’s online history of the poppy campaign that I learned it was in fact an American teacher, Moina Michael, who first proposed wearing a poppy as an act of remembrance.
She had been inspired by Canadian medic John McCrae’s 1915 poem In Flanders Fields, a haunting tribute to his fallen WWI comrades buried in the poppy-strewn fields of Flanders, Belgium.
At my children’s high school, one teacher made it his job every year to tape poppies to the grad photos of all the young people who had died in service to their country. That particular field of poppies made the vague concept of war very real to me.
In my small community–and in communities across Canada–Remembrance Day is solemnly observed with a minute or two of silence at the cenotaph but also in shops and schools and airports.
Nova Scotian Terry Kelly’s beautiful song, A Pittance of Time, conveys the intensely respectful mood of those impromptu memorials. I cannot watch his video without tearing up.
Do you wear a poppy? Why or why not?
Michael
on November 5th, 2009I fear I’m going to have to try to fashion my own poppy out here somehow. In Japan, November 11th is actually “Pocky day.” Because the numbers 11/11 resemble 4 Pocky sticks, the marketing department obviously jumped on it years ago.
Fiona
on November 5th, 2009Absolutely! Every year I proudly wear a poppy on my heart and I look into the eyes of the courageous man or woman who I give my donation to and wonder what their world must have been like and I quickly smile and simply say, “thank you”. These people are true heroes….
Fiona
on November 5th, 2009PS My husband was recently approached by some of the construction workers on his job site and they asked if they could “float” the Nov. 11 statutory holiday and slide it to next Friday instead; therefore getting a long weekend. He advised his crew that he wouldn’t permit it as it’s Remembrance Day and to put down the tools and ‘remember’ the meaning of that date.
Stuart Colcleugh
on November 6th, 2009November 11 is also my birthday. But as the son and grandson of war veterans on both sides of the family, one of whom died as the result of his wounds, I’ve never minded sharing the limelight on Remembrance Day. Well, maybe a little as a child. But not since I was old enough to appreciate the sacrifices of the brave men and women — kids, mostly — who gave their lives in service to our country. I’ll be there at the cenotaph, as I always am, rain or shine, remembering them.