Military Presence

As the season approaches, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children and friends think of their loveds ones overseas in Afghanistan. Remember our soldiers and all they have done and are doing for us. We love them and stand behind everything they are doing for us and our country... so brave.

Give a family member a hug - remember them ..
Please, would you do me a kind favour - write a letter or send a card to our soldiers - Christmas is coming soon. It's a small gesture for all our Canadian troops are doing for us. Let's stop and think of our heroes who are sacrificing themselves for us.


Military Presence

The embers glowed softly,

and in their dim light,

I gazed round the room

and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep,

her head on my chest,

My daughter beside me,

angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell,

a blanket of white,

Transforming the yard

to a winter delight

The sparkling lights

in the tree I believe,

Completed the magic

that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy,

my breathing was deep,

Secure and surrounded

by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment,

or so it would seem,

So I slumbered,

perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud,

and it wasn't too near,

But I opened my eyes

when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough,

I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps

outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble,

I struggled to hear,

And I crept to the door

just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold

and the dark of the night,

A lone figure stood,

his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled,
some twenty years old,
Perhaps an engineer ,
huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark,
he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me,
and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?"
I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment,
it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack,
brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home
on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment
I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold
and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced
with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said
"Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice.
I'm here every night."

"It's my duty to stand
at the front of the line,
That separates you
from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask
or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here
like my fathers before me.

My Gramp s died at war
on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas
'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch
in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn
and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son
in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures,
he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully
pulled from his bag,
The red and white
... a Canadian flag.

I can live through the cold
and the being alone,
Away from my family,
my house and my home.

I can stand at my post
through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole
with little to eat.

I can carry the weight
of killing another,
Or lay down my life
with my sister and brother.

Who stand at the front
against any and all,
To ensure for all time
that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside,"
he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting
and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something
I can do, at the least,
"Give you money,"
I asked,
"or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little
for all that you've done,
For being away
from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear
that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us,
and never forget.

To fight for our rights
back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch,
no matter how long.

For when we come home,
either standing or dead,
To know you remember
we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough,
and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you
as you mattered to us."