We Must Remember…and learn!

My Dad always seemed old to me as he was 11 years older than my Mum, so in this photo he looks young to me. ( very grainy photo as my sister copied it from the original) He was probably about 21 or 22.
He never really spoke about the war unless it was an amusing story or about the dog - Ciggy - that the soldiers adopted in Egypt. I don’t know if that was anything to do with cigarettes.
I finished a poem about him today. My Dad died on 11-11-1982 so 40 years ago today. He was only 64 but had been a smoker since he was about 14.

294/365 
Young Man 

You look so young in the photograph
But you were called up to fight.
How did you feel when you left,
when you boarded your first ever flight?

Excited, apprehensive and scared no doubt,
putting on a brave face for show,
a lad who’d never been away from home,
what lay ahead, you couldn’t know.

Your Mum and Dad had to be brave too
as they saw their boy march off to fight.
They’d wave him off smiling but shed tears,
as they lay in their bed at night.

I’m sure you enjoyed the camaraderie 
you were witty and a sociable guy 
but you never spoke of the trauma
you saw before your very eyes

You refused your war medals afterwards,
you didn’t need reminders or thanks
after all the atrocities you experienced,
you’d no interest in climbing those ranks.

I have been writing other poems too but just haven’t put them on here.

I haven’t done very much today really. 
I made myself some brown lentil soup which was delicious and I have leftovers for tomorrow.
Mucked out the guinea pigs again. It needs done every 2 days!
Took Millie for a walk, she’s getting old and seems to get a bit breathless when going up any inclines and grunts a bit.
Oh my word and she’s been lying at my feet all evening and doing the most stinky farts! When I say - Oh Millie you stink! - she slinks off to her bed with her chin almost touching the ground.
Animals eh! I still love ‘em! (Our Bella never stinks)

I watched a great programme today on iPlayer called The Secret Genius of Modern Life. Episode 1 was about credit cards. The history, how they are made, how they evolve to combat fraudsters etc. Very interesting.
This evening I’ve been catching up on Have I got a bit more News for You,
the last 5 episodes. Hilarious! 
Now I’m going to have a decaff before bed.

Goodnight :-) X