Remembrance:
Hi All
I just got this message a few hours ago and it really kicked my butt .
Alan G. Yeoman
OBITUARY ALAN G. YEOMAN Fifty-four, with great sadness, the family of Alan Yeoman informs you of his death on November 4, 2008. He went gentle into the night. Alan had battled lung cancer for the past two years. Alan was born October 30, 1954 in Moncton, the son of the late Mark Yeoman, Q.C. and Sylvia Yeoman, C.M., Granville Ferry. He grew up in Dorchester, NB. and attended Dorchester Consolidated School and Tantramar Regional High School. His work in theatre, designing, building props and scenery, took him to many parts of the country which he won awards for. The past eight years he lived in Montreal, working at the Centaur Theatre. For the last two weeks of his life, Alan was in Annapolis Royal, NS, in order to be close to family, and he died surrounded by those who loved him. His parting is much regretted by his brothers, sisters and loving mother. The family will hold a memorial and celebration of his life on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 2 p.m., at St. Luke's Anglican Church, Annapolis Royal, NS. Reception to follow at Granville Ferry Community Hall. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Canadian Cancer Society or the Salvation Army. Arrangements are under the care and direction of Serenity Funeral Home & Crematorium, PO Box 239, Port Williams, NS, B0P 1T0. Donations or cards and letters of sympathy may be sent to this address or on-line at: www.serenityfuneral.com .
Al was a good friend of ours for many years. He helped us with numerous projects around the collection of questionable houses we rented in Calgary. He laughed with us, shared our fun and demonstrated an uncanny ability to show up just when food was being put on the table.
Melody: OK, supper's ready!
Carl: OK, I'll be right there!
(sound of front door opening)
Al: Hi guys, what's going on?
Melody & Carl: Hi Al, Grab a plate!
So what does a person say about Remembrance Day? We've lost at least three people who were dear to our hearts just in the last year. Melody's Dad left us, the great Tracey Hooper took her last bow, And now, Al is gone as well.
It's sad of course, but it makes me wonder. What is this thing we call remembrance ? Is it just about people we know who died recently? Or can it incorporate all the sorrow we have experienced in our lifetime?
I'm still broken up about John Lennon, Jack and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Do we only celebrate those who died in wartime, or are we sad to see the loss of any life?
I think I can go back further and even wider with what this means.
For example: I remember my brother and sister-in-law posted in harm's way in the Golan Heights, the Persian Gulf and Bosnia. They both came home safely, but many others have not.
Our young friend Greg Hudson is now serving in Afghanistan. I think it is appropriate to remember him on a day-to-day basis and add a thought for the countless numbers of indigenous people who lose their lives every day in this and other wars being fought worldwide. This is also a form of remembrance.
And what about the thousands of civilians who are killed every day in the name of politics, money or religion? That's not right but should we not also spare a thought for the non-soldiers?
What I'm trying to say on this Remembrance Day is this. We elect a government based on their ability to lead, not only in this country but to help lead the world. A large part of that job is to keep people from being killed. Once a government buys into an armed conflict it is an admission that they are doing a poor job. The real job is to not have a war. Canada should not fight in un-winnable wars, Canada is a country of peace-makers!
I remember; Gandhi, Bill Blackmore, my Dad, the Beotuk people, Stan Rogers, Denny Doherty, Kenneth Stanton, my dear Lana, David Brown, Susan Wright, Maurice Evans, Cody, Jack Kerouac, Nicola Goddard, John Dowling, George Harrison, John Lennon, Victor Borge, Tony Randall, Patrick, George and Donny Reed,.
May you Rest in Peace,
May the rest of us Live in Peace
Carl
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3 comments:
Dear Carl,
I seldom cry but I read your blog and I cried. I have just come home from a rememberance day service where I had a wreath laid for my Great Uncle Tom who died in the 1st world war for he had no direct descendents to remember him. But I think it was also laid for your Dad who was a member of the Militia for many years and for Dave and Tammy who served so many years in so many places. I also think of my sister and remember her every day and all the friends that I have lost over the years. Youth is not a guarantee that you have a lot of years ahead of you on this earth. As you say
"May they rest in peace and may we live in peace". Mum
Thanks for the mention, but I gotta be honest, I did not join out of any inflated sense of duty, I was looking for a job, and look what happened.
You use this for whoever you want to remember, I think that we all remember those that are gone in different ways, and on different days.
Wish, along with you, that the world could live in peace, but I'm afraid that we look like we are just another species doomed to extinction (the latest in a long line of ultimate failures). We seem to be doing our absolute best to kill ourselves off, be it poisoning and destroying our planet, to focusing the talents of some of the best and brightest of each generation to find that latest super weapon or fight the latest war. That might be a first, but certainly nothing to be proud of.
Considering that we have had the power to wipe ourselves off the map for about 40 odd years now, and we have not done it makes me cautiously hopeful, but that's about as far as I'll go.
Thanks, you made me cry too.
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