Delta40
04-25-2015, 06:31 PM
Anzac Day in Sunbury Victoria was a wet and cold affair. Slowly and steadily, two thousand people gathered in the dark grey morning outside the small RSL Memorial Hall. Any other time we might have laughed about being packed in like sardines; all of us standing straining to see or hear something. I caught notes of God Save the Queen by the local choir from the sidewalk. Heard the Lords Prayer and when we were all extra quiet, a little girl's voice recited In Flander's Fields. In the crowd we could only imagine the tributes being laid and the servicemen and women present. With faces turned East we endured the nervous and uncertain notes of a lone piper.
A restless baby squirmed in it's pram nearby.
'We will remember them.' floated across the icy dawn struggling to break through and reveal its glory to us and the baby grumpling wailed louder.
'We will remember.' A young man picked the infant up in his arms and in the ensuing silence I heard the sound of soft kisses being planted on its cheeks.
When The Last Post played and tears flowed for all the reasons that only those that shed them know, a teddybear landed near my feet. I passed the worn toy to the young Father. More consoling kisses and then the sun cast its first light upon the bare autumn trees and almost magically, one could see the flags had been raised and it was time to leave. Time to leave the men and women of yesteryear behind thankful for our freedoms.
The young father strapped the infant into the pram and he just like the rest of us, walked away.
A restless baby squirmed in it's pram nearby.
'We will remember them.' floated across the icy dawn struggling to break through and reveal its glory to us and the baby grumpling wailed louder.
'We will remember.' A young man picked the infant up in his arms and in the ensuing silence I heard the sound of soft kisses being planted on its cheeks.
When The Last Post played and tears flowed for all the reasons that only those that shed them know, a teddybear landed near my feet. I passed the worn toy to the young Father. More consoling kisses and then the sun cast its first light upon the bare autumn trees and almost magically, one could see the flags had been raised and it was time to leave. Time to leave the men and women of yesteryear behind thankful for our freedoms.
The young father strapped the infant into the pram and he just like the rest of us, walked away.