Remembrance Day

I once got slammed down in a forum for pondering over the significance and symbolism of the date chosen to be Remembrance Day. Okay, I know that the bods of the armed forces of the time wouldn't have considered the relevance of the season, but I personally feel that the link between Remembrance Day, Bonfire Night, with Samhain etc is there, and is why we hold onto these festivals. Call it genetic collective memory or call it Bollocks, but to me, it is so poignant that we remember our lost dead at the time of year where we remember our dead.I once got slammed down in a forum for pondering over the significance and symbolism of the date chosen to be Rem

embrance Day. Okay, I know that the bods of the armed forces of the time wouldn't have considered the relevance of the season, but I personally feel that the link between Remembrance Day, Bonfire Night, with Samhain etc is there, and is why we hold onto these festivals. Call it genetic collective memory or call it Bollocks, but to me, it is so poignant that we remember our lost dead at the time of year where we remember our dead. once got slammed down in a forum for pondering over the significance and symbolism of the date chosen to be Remembrance Day. Okay, I know that the bods of the armed forces of the time wouldn't have considered the relevance of the season, but I personally feel that the link between Remembrance Day, Bonfire Night, with Samhain etc is there, and is why we hold onto these festivals. Call it genetic collective memory or call it Bollocks, but to me, it is so poignant that we remember our lost dead at the time of year where we remember our dead.

Bracken the Labrador (22/03/1997 - 03/11/2010)

My mum and dad had to put my old dog to sleep yesterday. I am very sad, even though it was relatively expected. He was such a loved member of our family. My kids loved him, my husband loved him. I remember picking him up from the breeders as a 9 week old puppy. He was all squidgy and full of beans, running around like a loon in my little courtyard, until he just plonked himself next to me and fell into blissful puppy sleep.

He would eat my shoes. One pair of uncomfortable sandals that I wasn't too upset about, but then my fave pair of sexy date ankle boots. And I truly mean eat them. Not just chew them up into bits, these shoes were gone.

When we first brought my son home from the hospital, he loudly woofed at my husband when he went to pick him up. Bracken obviously felt that only my mum and I were allowed to touch this new "puppy".

If you left food anywhere near him, he would try and nab it.

He wasn't allowed to sit on the sofa, and was too big to do it anyway. But it didn't stop him occasionally sneaking up onto my mum's lap until she was swamped by this massive dog grinning like mad. Sometimes when we would stay over and sleep on the sofabed in the living room. At some point in the night he would realise we were still there, and shove his way into the room and lie down next to the bed. In the morning we would be woken by a cold wet nose stuck in our faces and treated to a smellydogbreath lick! Sometimes I would let him into the sofabed, and he would wiggle with glee until my mum would come in and look at him pretending to be cross with him and he would wiggle more and wag his tail like mad at her.

He was so full of love and mischief and I really miss him.

(Picture isn't actually Bracken, but looks a hell of a lot like him)