Memorial – Erin of the Hills

There was immediate silence as though cold water had been poured on a roaring flame.
Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart

After having devoured our gratefully-received evening meal and enjoying a good night’s sleep at the strangest accommodation of our trip, Dad and I headed out bright and early for the third-and-final leg of our France At War tour.

If I think back, I’m pretty sure we spent most of the 4 hour drive attempting some semblance of conversation while mentally preparing ourselves for what we knew was to come.

Having seen our fair share of military memorials and graves by this point, we were fairly certain this last stretch was destined to be the most emotional of all. I mean, we were culminating the whole thing with a Remembrance Day ceremony at Vimy Ridge. As far as World War history goes, as a Canadian, it doesn’t get much more emotionally poignant than that.

I think I was putting so much mental effort into preparing myself for the wave of despair I knew to expect at Vimy that I neglected to spare a thought for our next step: Dieppe.

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“Not a day passes on over this earth but men and women of no great note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows.” – Charles Reade, The Cloister and the Hearth

Last week I took a very necessary break from blogging for the sake of my mental health. Though my husband, daughter and I, along with our entire family, are thankfully healthy, this COVID-19 business has been more than a little trying on my emotions. I think it would be a different story if I wasn’t a new mom (although I know it is difficult for nearly everyone for wildly different reasons) but being separated from our extended family while still adjusting to parenthood, well, let me tell you it has not been easy. They are our support system, our replacement rockers, our “take a breather and some time for just the two of you” superheroes. We are making sure to take turns soothing our little daughter but sometimes having a third party come in and take a shift can be the most rejuvenating gift. Our strategy while self-isolation is the name of the game is just to take it one day at a time and to allow ourselves to choose how we spend each day based on what we need most each moment – no to-do lists or goals set in stone. Last week, I needed to just relax and read as much as possible, so that is what I did. I hope, dear reader, that you’ll forgive me.

So. Back to France.

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Tag: Memorial

Cold Water on a Roaring Flame

Great Deeds and Noble Sorrows