I swear every baby has a picture like this. This was a fun night when Alex, Holly, Lily, James, Ferda and Kaya visited. Lily really loved the drums!
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Month: November 2010
Mike, Vero and I went to the Capital Music Hall to check out one of our favourite bands, The Trews pull out an acoustic show. I believe the last time I’ve seen them was also an acoustic show…I love the rock, but they deliver the acoustic just as well.
The Capital Music Hall is not a fan favourite of Mike and mine…it’s like herding sheep into a valley…but we managed to find a decent spot once we got through the fence of people.
Honestly, the first set lacked something. It was like they were going through the motions. Colin had the 1000-yard stare going on and while they were throwing out some amazing tunes (including the as-of-yet Power of Positive Drinking), there was no life.
This completely changed when they took the stage for their second set along with a few other musicians (including Tim Chiasson). The energy was electric and the band loosened up a little. THIS was the band I know and love! Can’t knock them too much considering the life of a wearied band of musicians is a life I don’t know about myself.
Highlights for me: Power of Positive Drinking, Highway of Heroes and Ishmael & Maggie (of course!).
If you’ve never seen The Trews, do yourself a favour. You will never be disappointed by this group.
Check out some photos from the show here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paguma/sets/72157625301570133/with/5190726382/
Setlist (taken from their Facebook page)
Sing Your Heart Out
So She’s Leaving
Every Inambition
Den of Thieves
Paranoid Freak
Power of Positive drinking
Poor Ol’ Broken Hearted Me
Fleeting Trust
One by One
Tired
Set 2
When You leave
Yearning
Traveling Kind
Highway of Heroes
Luv is the real thing
Can’t stop Laughing
Man of Two Minds
Bad Luck Blues
Not ready to go (Mandy)
Ishmael & Magggie
Encore
You gotta let me in
Come on baby let’s go downtown
Served my time
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Nanny’s Christmas Sweater Arrives!
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Remember Remember
Cousin Troy sent this story he wrote for the faithful readers of Palmer’s World. Quite the story!
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With Remembrance Day fast approaching, it is important to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Sadly we are reminded almost daily of what that sacrifice really is, as many of our soldiers continue to fight overseas in yet another war.
I stumbled upon an article in the London Free Press that jogged my memory. The original article can be accessed from the following link: http://www.lfpress.com/comment/2010/11/05/15991311.html
I encourage anyone who is reading this to start by reading the article from the London Free Press (shown below), and all credit for “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?” should go to the writer Joe Murray,QMI Agency, London Free Press.
“Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? ”
“I am a Canadian currently living and working in Italy My father was a veteran who fought in the Second World War in the battles of Normandy and in the liberation of Holland. My grandfather fought in the First World War and stormed Vimy Ridge. As a result I have always worn a poppy and honoured the veterans who fought and died for our freedoms.
For me, the focus on this day has always been for veterans. This week I was reminded it was not only the soldiers who suffered, but their families as well.
I currently live in a small town in Italy called Lanciano. Lanciano is about a 20-minute drive from Ortona. Ortona was the scene of a battle that lasted eight terrible days in December 1943. More than 1,300 Canadians were killed in this battle, with many more wounded. Most are buried in the Moro River Cemetery overlooking the town.
I was visiting the Moro River Cemetery when one of the workers who tended the cemetery came over and spoke to me about a grave. As I speak little Italian, and the worker spoke no English, I thought at first he told me that a wife was buried in the cemetery. I assumed someone had brought the ashes of a loved one to scatter with their father, brother or husband.
The worker kept pointing to a grave and kept saying “moglia,” which means wife and mimicked an old person with a walker approaching the tombstone. I then understood that a wife had come to visit her long dead, but not forgotten husband.
I approached the grave and in front of the gravestone was a picture encased in plastic. It was a picture of a young soldier named Reuben and his beautiful wife. This picture was taken sometime in the early 1940s, prior to Reuben shipping out to Italy to fight for his new family and freedom. Reuben was killed during the battle of Ortona and is buried in the Moro River Cemetery along with his fallen comrades.
His wife made a final journey to say goodbye. She arrived and paid her respects 67 years to the day of Reuben’s death. Her age has to be in her late 80s.
She brought a little bit of Canada with her. Around the grave were piles of maple leaves. Along with the picture of the young couple was another one showing his children and what was even more heart-rending were the hand prints of his grandchildren encased in plastic with a message for their grandfather.
I reached down to look closer at the picture and turned it over to see if there was a name. It was then that I saw the inscription: “Have I told you lately that I love you?”
It was at this point that my two companions and I started to cry. I realized that love was unending and could last an eternity.
I wear a poppy for Reuben, his family, his wife, his grandchildren and for all his comrades that lie in foreign fields.
I left the Moro River Cemetery a more humble and wiser man.
Joe Murray is a Londoner teaching at the Canadian College of Italy in Lanciano, Italy.”
After reading the article, I was struck with emotion, and as I mentioned earlier, it jogged my memory. The story sounded very familiar….I was sure that I had heard it recently. A friend and co-worker (Caren), recently returned from a vacation to Italy. Caren and her boyfriend Yves had visited Ortona, and she had told me about this very story, and of actually meeting this woman! I believe there were strong forces at play to allow these people to meet in of all places Ortona …it wasn’t just by chance.
In Caren’s own words:
“I am a Londoner who recently returned from a trip to Italy. I too, went to the Moro River Cemetery near Ortona to pay my respects to fallen Canadian soldiers. I knew none of them, but having an interest in WWII …and particularly the Ortona battle, I have always wanted to visit to pay my respects. After returning to the hotel (the only hotel in town) guess who I met in the lobby? The very woman mentioned in the article. Squibs Mercier is an 87 year old woman from Ottawa who traveled a great distance 67yrs to the day of her first husband’s death, to say goodbye. Cpl Reuben Ash. Squibs spent the remaining time together in Ortona with us ..and later a few days in Rome. We spent a lot of time together where she spoke of her life during the war, finding Reuben, seeing him deployed to the Italian Campaign ..and losing him to the Ortona battle. She is the most incredible woman I have ever met! Kind, strong, funny, intelligent, spunky …loving! She asked us to attend the cemetery with her that day …and it was unforgettable! It was heartbreaking ..and wonderful at the same time. We had been to the cemetery the day before and the weather was horrible …raining, windy, and cold. When we returned with Squibs the very next day it was beautiful! It was sunny …mild …clear … you could see beautiful mountains we didn’t know existed the day before! Squibs said Reuben was shining down on her. She spent quite some time at the grave alone ..spreading leaves, and singing to Reuben. She said her dream came true that day, and she could return home ‘complete’. She told me she simply wanted to say goodbye with dignity. After all those years, she did just that.”
As a side note to this story, I believe this is truly a case of “The Six Degrees of Separation”….how we are all connected. Thanks to Joe Murray for writing his article that I then forwarded on to Caren. She is now in the process of contacting Joe at the request of Squibs Mercier. Squibs wanted Caren to contact Joe, and thank him for visiting Reuben’s grave.
I will end this story with another quote from Caren:
“It’s important to hear this kind of story. We need to be reminded what that generation sacrificed! The horror they lived through …how it made them strong, and why we shouldn’t take their gift for granted. Squibs love for Reuben was so great that Squibs never, in 68yrs, removed Reuben’s wedding bands. She never forgot.We shouldn’t either.
Meeting Squibs was an incredible experience. I will never forget it. That poppy I pin on every year is for Reuben, and Squibs …and all those who sacrificed life …and love.”
I couldn’t have said it any better myself……
Troy
