Remembrance Day 2009 in the nation’s capital.

This year I spent Remembrance Day at the War Memorial in downtown Ottawa. Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, were in attendance, along with the Prime Minister and the Governor General. Prince Charles and Michaelle Jean were both wearing stunning green* military uniforms. I was incredibly excited to see all these important people at the same time, on such an important day, at such a beautiful place, in our nation’s capital.

While Remembrance Day is an extremely emotional day, it is a mixture of sadness and happiness for me. On November 11, I am overwhelmed with patriotism. Half of me feels sad when remembering fallen soldiers, and half of me is happy because today Canadians are united in a great love for our country, all the amazing aspects and beautiful opportunities we have and everything that we can look forward to in the future.

The 21 gun salute, the jets that flew overhead, the veteran’s parade and seeing so many Canadians united together made my little heart feel like it would burst with pride and patriotism. Standing in a crowd of hundreds of shivering, poppy-wearing Canadians singing along together to O Canada was overwhelming. It was a beautiful moment, and I will never forget.

Update 11/13/09:
* Accoriding to this picture, and this picture, the uniforms appear to be black. They looked green from where I was standing.