I am often asked why I wear a poppy on my coat during the month of November. Although I have been Swiss since the last 51 years, my British origins are still there. Although I speak Swiss German since living in this country, and I speak it quite fluently, people still notice that I have an accent. Some things never leave you, and remain.
One thing I have never forgot is that my dad was away for 5 years in another country from 1939-1945 as a soldier, as were most Brits at the time. Many different countries were without the male population all for the same reason. There was a war going on. I was born in 1946 when the war was over and my dad was back home.
Many did not return home, from various countries. A poppy became the flower that remained as a reminder of what had happened, being the flower to be found in Flanders in Belgium amongst the battlefields and it is worn as a memory by the British.
I remember once I was leaving the Swiss aircraft after the flight from London to Zürich and one of the crew members asked me why so many British were wearing a poppy. She was young and lucky enough not to have lived through the perils of war.
RDP Sunday: Tidbit
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 
That is a beautiful story. Goes along with the tribute to my mom the other day. https://wordpress.com/post/christinebialczak.com/10041
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I grew up with playgrounds of bombed houses, a real adventure playground, My first years were surrounded by reminders of what a war can bring.
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I can’t even begin to imagine
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My dad was overseas, too, as well as my uncles. In Canada it’s still very common to wear a poppy on Remembrance Day. When we lived in Quebec I saw many people in stores stop what they were doing at 11am and stand still for a two-minute silence.
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My mum would stop everything for the two minute silence and we knew we would have to obey it as well. My uncle was a prisoner of war for four years. My dad was everywhere: France, Italy, Egypt, Palestine and in Germany for the last months, a real sightseeing Trip, but was no holiday
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❤ That's lovely.
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