Remembrance Day
So yesterday was Remembrance Day, an' like I sed in the comments, Mom an' I went 2 a special ceremony, and so did Gramps and Iris. Oh, I almost 4got, Liz was there w/Mom and me. Iris told us that when she asked Gramps if he was sure he felt up 2 it, Gramps sed, "Y-yes." Can U believe he's come so far w/his speech? Just a coupla days ago, he cd barely say "ta". NEway, Iris dressed Gramps in his miltary regalia w/his medals and a plaid blanket wrapped around him. At the ceremony, the announcer guy was all, "And...we dedicate this wreath not only to our veteran soldiers who fought in the past, but to those who are 2day risking their lives for the sake of freedom. Let us pray for our young men and women in uniform. Let us ask for their safe return--and, for those who fall...and have fallen, let their efforts not B in vain. Let us pray for the families whose sons and daughters are overseas..." That's when I sed, "Mom? When will it end?" Mom was all, "In about another half-hour." Then I told her, "I'm not talking about this ceremony. I'm talking about the war." Mom raised her eyebrowz and looked goggly eyed for a minute. Then she got this glazed look on her face and sed, "Oceania has always been at war with Eurasia. Oceania will always be at war with Eurasia." And I sed, "Mom? We're not characters in George Orwell's novel 1984." And she sed, "We're not? Oh, of course we're not. I knew that. Let's talk about something else. You look very nice with that poppy on your jacket. Do I look nice with my poppy? Does Liz? Doesn't your gramps look distinguished with his poppy and his medals?" And I was, like, "Um, yeah, OK. Mom, why did U make me wear my hair in a ponytail when I've been rocking the long, flowy hair l8ly?" And Mom sed, "Because it's Remembrance Day!"
Well, that's what happed yesterday.
Apes
Well, that's what happed yesterday.
Apes
posted by April Patterson @ 7:51 AM
9 Comments:
At 12:02 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hello, April!
I'm glad to see you, your mom, Liz, your Grandpa Jim, and your Step-Grandma Iris observed Remembrance Day yesterday. I went to a ceremony in Winnipeg yesterday, with my mom and dad, Grandpa Will, and Grandma Carrie. My Grandma and Grandpa Cruikshank went, too. Did you know that Grandpa Cruikshank also served in WWII? Probably not, since your side of the family pretty much keeps you up to date on Pattersons and Richards only.
I can't say that I blame you for your question. Sorry to hear Aunt Elly sort of snapped on you. Though I suppose you didn't really expect an answer, eh?
Have a happy Sunday!
Laura
At 12:51 PM,
April Patterson said…
laura, i asked my mom y no1 ever told me that yr grandpa cruikshank served in the military, and she was all, "oh, does yr uncle danny have parents?" i cdn't believe that! sorry my side of the fam is like that. :(
apes
At 12:59 PM,
Anonymous said…
April,
Actually Mom says it's not even worth keeping track of Pattersons who don't share Richards blood, like her kids are important, but Grandma and Grandpa Patterson are not, she says she'd rather eat a bowl full of hot coals before she goes to "that stinking hovel on the prairie," Mom also says that even though the Richards-Patterson Accords of 1979 says Pattersons and Richardses are equal, Mom says that is a polite fiction to avoid fighting in the family and that really, you have to be at least part Richards to count for anything, Mom also says that the only reason any of us ever go to Manitoba is to learn the character-building lessons of the prairie and if some Richardses lived there, we wouldn't have to "use" Grandma and Grandpa Patterson, actually she is worried about why you want to keep going back there, she is thinking of sending you to live with Uncle Phil and Aunt Georgia for a few summers to try to remind you that Richardses are the best and maybe also to get you to be an audiologist which is a better job then a vet because an audiologist takes care of children, which is good training for when you will be a mom.
Liz
At 3:07 PM,
April Patterson said…
so, like, dad must not b important, cuz he is a patterson w/out ne richards blood!
have u ever noticed that uncle danny is not even on the "who's who" page @ mom's website? i guess she thinx cruikshanks w/out ne patterson blood are s00per-unimportant, eh?
apes
At 6:31 PM,
Anonymous said…
April,
Boozhoo (Hello).
I read your writings about your Nokomis (grandmother), mishomis (grandfather), noos (mother) and my sweet girl at the Remembrance Day ceremony. I asked my sweet girl about the experience and she said the whole thing left her in the dark. Then she started talking about the Richards-Patterson Accords of 1979, and it left me in the dark. I didn’t get to Skype with my sweet girl today, because my friend Susan Dokis, whom I call Chipper, invited me to participate in the Remembrance Day ceremony in Mtigwaki (Land of Trees), like I did last year with your sister. Here’s a picture in case you didn’t remember it from your sister’s writings. I’m standing in the back behind the States flag, which is sort of the Mtigwaki (Land of Trees) honoured visitor location. That’s where I was again this year.
Chipper asked Vivian Crane if she could help her make pies, and Vivian said, “Just as long as you don’t make any math jokes about Pi.” Chipper thinks Vivian was traumatized by hearing one too many Pi/Pie jokes last year. Chipper said Vivian did give her a strange compliment, which I didn’t understand but maybe you do. Vivian said to Chipper, “Susan. It’s so nice to make pies for the Veterans’ dinner for Remembrance Day with someone who doesn’t have to have every little thing explained to her, like why veterans should be honoured.” It’s sad to think there are people out there who don’t understand something like that.
This year was a special occasion for the Veterans’ Dinner. This year they remembered people were veterans who had been in the military, not just in World War II. So, there was more than one veteran this year. I don’t know why they didn’t think of that last year. Did you have veterans in your ceremony, who were younger, or were they all World War II age?
Gi'-ga-wa-ba-min' na-gutch! (See you later!)
Constable Paul Wright
At 6:37 PM,
April Patterson said…
paul, i think there were younger vets, 2. i'm not sure abt vivian's comment, tho i do remember liz mentioning how much she enjoyed having vivian xxplain stuff 2 her. mayB it's sumhow rel8ed 2 that?
apes
At 6:55 PM,
Anonymous said…
April,
No, I got it wrong, if you are married to a person with Richards blood you matter some but not quite as much, haven't you noticed how Dad and Iris are around in our lives a lot but nobody thinks that what is happening with them is very interesting at all, they hardly ever get to talk and when they do they just kind of blabber on about stuff nobody wants to hear about, like trains for example, and also, when we see them they are usually doing work that a person with Richards blood doesn't want to do, like: earning a living at a real (not hobby) job, taking care of the elderly, loading a dishwasher or folding laundry, calling the police on a stalker, making a Richards go on a diet, etc., also one of their jobs is to act super-interested in everything a Richards person does, don't act like Mom's theory is wrong just because I forgot part of it, because when you see the whole thing, it makes a creepy sort of sense, huh?
Liz
At 7:16 PM,
April Patterson said…
liz, i wasn't trying 2 make the theory seem wrong, i was just trying 2 understand it better. u're rite, i've noticed that stuff abt dad and iris. esp. dad.
apes
At 3:39 AM,
Anonymous said…
April,
More about that day at the courthouse, well when lunchtime came Anthony said, "Let's walk out together," but then when we got to his car he stopped and my car was all the way in the back of the lot because I was late because of going to see Grandpa and that annoying Agnes lady, anyhow, when we got to Anthony's car he asked if I wanted him to drive me to my car or go out to lunch together and of course I said "go to lunch together" because sitting in my car alone for a whole hour sounded really boring, so I climbed into his yellow minivan with him, and then he said we had to bring his daughter Francie to lunch with us which I thought didn't sound like such a good idea because those nasty courthouse types told us we only had one hour and also I was hoping Anthony was going to take me to a really nice restaurant, since he asked me I knew that meant he would pay and so I was hoping for something good, anyhow, now I knew I would probably only get French fries, especially since his daughter is Frenchy, well since Anthony always calls his day care "the sitter" I assumed it was some nice old lady at her home or something but no, Francie gets taken care of in this big, modern day care center that looks like a cross between an office building with big plate glass windows and a minimum security prison, and when I say "minimum security" I mean it, because there is a big gaping hole like a garage door in the building that isn't closed and we didn't even have to go inside, Francie just came running out of that garage and into Anthony's arms, I guess the sitter runs her business out of a garage stall in an office building, which seemed weird to me but what do I know, I don't have kids, well then Francie ran out screaming, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" almost like she was dying to be rescued from that place and Anthony swooped her up into the air and then I was thinking two things:
1. Francie looks very tall and advanced for a 1 1/2 year old girl, and
2. Anthony is a dad, can you believe it, I know I can't, it's so amazing, I mean I have known about him being a dad for like two years, but really it is so amazing, it's like I can never quite believe it, you know? Totally amazing. I don't believe it.
Liz
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