I went (a tad late) to our Remembrance Day ceremonies and walking in, I walked past someone that was a striking resemblance to one of my ex's. It made me take aback and I had to look at him again. I feared staring at the poor man lest he thought I was, well, staring at him. It was so weird. I mean, a spitting freaking image.
I stood in my usual spot, the back/side of the arena, standing and leaning against... I don't know what you'd call them, things you can stand at, just wide enough to put a drink on, etc. Two minutes of silence and silent tears in my eyes, the images, thoughts and feelings of the WWI, WWII vets had to face; heat, cold, mud, lack of clothing, lack of food, the fear. I thought about some of the stories K. told me over the years; victories, disappointments, injuries, deaths, isolation. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Today I've made a small gesture; I'm going without makeup. Yes, I'm foregoing vanity for the sake of those who have and are serving. Silly? Most likely. Small, insignificant? Yeah. Does it mean much? Probably not to anyone else but it does to me. Any lady serving doesn't wear makeup on the field; she has no time nor desire. They go, they do their work and they don't really give a shit about how they look; they're there to do a job. Up with the hair and out the tent. So, instead of the daily ritual of putting on my base powder to even out my skintone, cover-up for the bags under my eyes, a quick dash of shadow for colour, I'm going a la naked. And at work today, they'll just have to deal :)
Oh and yo, think of everyone parading today; I'm standing "warm" (if you want to call it that, it was snowing), in my mitts and scarf, and they are out in bare hands, just blazers or uniform jackets. God love 'em for braving the cold.
I'm watching specials on the History Channel and one vet just said, "We stand for 2 minutes, they stand for 65 years."
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