Poppy Sunday

As a small child, Remembrance Day meant standing with Mum in the cold, damp, misty weather, watching the solemn procession to the War Memorial - the military band, followed by men in uniform, then the dignitaries from the council with heavy overcoats and gold chains, and the local clergy [Dad being the only one not in clerical robes!] and finally the Scouts and Guides. Poppies were wire and paper, with a black bitumen centre and held on with a regular pin.
In my teens, I was marching with the Boys' and Girls' Brigade companies [in my smartest uniform, diligently keeping in step] They started putting plastic stems on poppies in 1967, and the paper leaf disappeared. In 1982 there was the Falklands War. There was a resurgence of support for the poppies. In 1987, the leaf was returned [by popular demand] and in 2000 they introduced large poppies to fix onto cars.

Then we had 9/11, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Previously the veterans had been mostly from WW1 and WW2 - but now there were young men marching, or being pushed in wheelchairs, and young widows, proudly wearing the medals their husbands had won, posthumously. We were not just remembering distant past conflicts, but conscious of very recent sacrifice. More people turned out to walk down to the Memorial in Kirby Muxloe, Rachel played the Last Post, Bob and the Vicar led the Act of Remembrance together

2014 was definitely the Year of the Poppy - 100 years since the beginning of WW1, and the Tower of London had a display of 100s of ceramic poppies, entitled "Bloodswept Lands and Seas of Red". I went to see it with Liz. Adrian gave me a poppy for Christmas.
Back at church in Kirby Muxloe, we had a huge picture of the local castle. and people added their own messages of remembrance written on paper poppies

And that was the year I worked in the Autism Unit, and helped the girls to sew their own poppies, using four red felt hearts [love] with a black button centre[ sadness]

Now the British Legion poppies are 100% paper, and 100% recyclable. And there are far more public poppy displays than ever

But whatever these red flowers on our lapels are made from, however many knitted poppies adorn our churches, shop-windows, lamp-posts and pillarboxes, the message remains the same...throughout the years, so many have paid the price for our freedom - and we honour their memory, their sacrifice will not be forgotten.

We WILL remember them