Armistice Day 1918

 Today we remember the end of World War One. A day of remembrance and one in honor for all those who fought for us and lost their lives.

At 11 am the Last Post will be held in Ypres. Normally a big celebration, but due to corona it will be a minor occasion this year. The bugles will sound, and the poppies will fall down, but that's about all.

Our own grandfather fought in WWI. He was only 17 years old when it started. He was at the military academy and all these students were made officers in the army. He had the command of a bunch of guys who were between 30 and 40 years old and all who spoke Flemish (officers in those days were educated in French). Luckily he had grown up in Limburg because his mother was Flemish and so he spoke the two languages fluently. His father, equally an army man, had married this girl from Bree and they had 3 children. The mother died giving birth to the third one. We assume - we don't know for sure, because he never spoke of it - that the kids were taken in by the girl's parents or one of her sisters and raised in Bree. Must be, because according to a former colleague at the school in Temse, I use phrases and expressions that are typical for Bree. 

Granddad suffered some injuries and also took in some gas, but he survived the war and was given various decorations for bravery and such. After the end of war he met my grandmother in Antwerpen, they fell in love and married. Some twenty years later the next war broke out, and he equally took part in that one.

He survived a second time and could return to his family and home. He lived to the age of 75. He was a great granddad, he loved me a lot and I've taken over many of his traits. I remember well he used to read to me (I was 1,5 - 2 at the moment) from his French novels - that's where my love for books comes from. He took me visiting friends in Brussels and Wallony, and although I didn't speak French, I must have understood it unconsciously. 

I'll always remember my grandfather with pride and love, just like my grandmother and my parents. Both my sister and I had a great childhood, we felt loved and protected.