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Freedom to celebrate
A young friend, living on the Prairies, put one of her family’s Christmas Trees up on October 30. I say it’s a long haul until the 25th of December but she’s a Christmas-loving kinda gal. And she’s the only person she has to answer to about when Christmas starts in her life. I seriously doubt her love of the festive holiday shows disrespect for the military or veterans or Remembrance Day. As a matter of fact, she is partner in a military family and, like she says to the horrified hordes, “It’s a decoration. It makes us happy. See you at the Remembrance Day Service.” Good on you, Cat. Good on you.
Meanwhile, in Picton, I was mildly surprised and amused to see Advent calendars in a local grocery store. On that particular day, the end of the aisles were all about the tricking and treating of Hallowe’en, and just two aisles over the chocolate doorways to the most confusing holiday of the year were calling to me. Indeed, the Advent calendars were a little ways down the aisle, duking it out with boxes of cereal (on one side) and frozen peas (on the other). While I was surprised by the advent of Advent calendars, I wasn’t angry. Chocolate is chocolate, whether it’s disguised as Festive Chocolate Counter-downers or Spooky Chocolate giver-outies. And the Festive display actually made me snicker at myself because I know for a fact I couldn’t possibly have an Advent Calendar in my house until the first of December, or even later. If I purchased an advent calendar in November, I couldn’t even hazard a guess as to how many I would have to buy to replace the ones I’d consume. I’m supposing I’d be on Advent Chocolate 5.0 by December first. LOML shows more restraint than I. He’d likely only need one replacement.
My point is, and I do have one, is there really any disrespect to our veterans if the retailer moves from one marketing opportunity to the next before November 11? Think about it. Is it really so discourteous to our military personnel to hum a festive tune, enjoy a candy cane or wrap a present before Remembrance Day? Go on, rack your brain. How stupid are we being if we think a bag of festive jelly beans, a tin of the cookies (you know the ones) or seasonal piped-in music or a fragrant Tannenbaum will distract folks from showing their respect for the veterans? Some of us, most obviously, are that freaking stupid, or easily misled by folks who just love to cause unnecessary angst and disturbances. Good ole “disturbers of the poo” with their memes, and GIFs and witless sayings.
According to more than a few old veterans I know, the fighting was all about the freedom. Yep, veterans fought for our freedom. Freedom to, pretty well, do what we want, when we want. If that means decorating for Christmas the day after Hallowe’en, or keeping your holiday lights up year round, then so be it. My dad and my uncles were WWII veterans. When it came to the “festive season”, Dad was all over it like a cheap suit. As far as we could tell, he seemed to enjoy Christmas more than he enjoyed Remembrance Day. Dad was no fool, and he didn’t suffer fools. He didn’t think of one event as a competitor to the other. His philosophy was to be happy, be kind, be respectful and enjoy your freedom because it came at a great price.
On November 11, we will remember them. Take a moment to Remember, even if you’ve already got a jump start on the Festive Season. Remember you have someone to thank for that privilege.
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