It all started at the Children’s Museum here in Ottawa.  In passing I said to my friend, “If you ever see any old cameras, grab them for me and I’ll pay you back.”  She instantly responded with, “My Dad has some cool old cameras and he’s coming to Ottawa next weekend.  I’ll see if he could bring them.”  Little did I know I would inherit a Russian camera from the ’60s that is on par with Leica cameras, but even more importantly I met a man with an amazing past.

This is a man who is from Poland and who was taken from his home, in the dark at 4 in the morning and told nothing other than to bring warm clothes.  He and his family were whisked off to Siberia.  I asked him how he was treated while he was there and he said quite well.  (Note:  The following is paraphrased)  “As long as you worked, you had food.  There were no barbed wire fences as we were in the middle of Siberia and had no idea where to go!”  When the war ended, he and his family were set free, but they really weren’t sure where to go.  His father was part of the Polish Army and they ended up traveling their way south through Europe.  They couldn’t go back to Poland so after months of traveling, they ended up in Uganda as there was a British Military Camp there and it was safe.  Through his travels he not only learned Polish, but Russian, Ukrainian and, get this, Swahili!!

He later visited the house where he was taken from and slept in the same room.  Although he was in his 30s, he couldn’t sleep.  That fear that a 7 year old boy felt was still there…

Once they left Uganda, they traveled to England and then eventually were sponsored to come to Winnipeg.  He ended up in Southern Ontario working for a newspaper.  This is most definitely an abridged version of his life and the rest of his stories I shall cherish.

It is the stories from the past that we need to remember as well as the sacrifices of the men and women (and their families) currently serving for our country so we can live such privileged lives.  I will never forget the kind soldier in Staples who saw my children looking at her prosthetic leg and were asking me questions.  I was trying to answer them as best I could, but she took it one step further.  She called the kids over and showed them how it worked and graciously answered all their questions.  She was still going through multiple surgeries and I thanked her for taking the time to talk to my children.  Her response was, “You’re welcome, but it actually helps me to talk about it.”

So please, take the time to remember today…for the past and the present.

Shona