As we prepare for another Remembrance Day, the immensity of veterans' actions endures.
If the attendance at last year's Remembrance Day ceremonies in Burnaby is any indication, people continue to respect and honour the sacrifice of past generations.
Perhaps it is the fact that fewer and fewer veterans remain from the Second World War. Their personal stories of valour and courage - like the story of George McLean in today's edition - have often been shared in the media and books and family histories. But with fewer veterans to relay their stories personally, their sacrifices take on a special significance. Perhaps, also, our rather cushy, risk-free lives highlight the incredible sacrifice of veterans.
For most of us, the spectre of death appears more in the form of close calls on the highway and high cholesterol or cancer.
War is almost an abstract in our daily lives - we see it on TV, but it's far away. And if it's in Afghanistan or Syria, it's complicated and mired in politics and changing goals.
Do we ever consider what we would do if our country went to war as it did in 1939?
What would we do if faced with a true threat or call to action?
Could we put down our smartphones, golf clubs and lattes and pick up weapons instead?
Have we become too soft to think of sacrifice? Are we even capable of understanding that heroes are more than hockey players?
At the moment of silence Monday, we ask you to consider what causes you would risk life and limb for.
Would you pay the price for freedom that other generations paid?
And, after those thoughts, be thankful that the younger generations of Canadians have not had to make that same decision.
