Gentlemen, the Queen ...

Despite our shared heritage, it's been a bit of mild culture shock settling into life in Canada. One difference I've noticed centred around Remembrance Day. My father-in-law, Jack, is involved with the local Royal Canadian Legion so we're quite aware of veterans' affairs in our house. But there is also a wide and deep appreciation of the sacrifices, past and present, of Canada's armed forces; more so than I usually feel back in London. Now, this could be due to being in a small town now where Remembrance Day events are more noticeable but I think that there is a greater respect all-round here.

Cenotaph outside Uxbridge library

It hit me with some force when Lisa, Jack and myself attended a Remembrance dinner at the Legion. During this social and solemn event, not only did Jack deliver a powerful rendition of the poem 'In Flanders' Fields' but we toasted the Queen and ended singing 'God Save the Queen'. It struck me that I couldn't remember the last time I'd done either of these things at home.

Are we sometimes embarrassed by national feeling in the UK, or see it as no longer relevant? What I experienced in Uxbridge was not any kind of jingoistic nationalism but more a sense of community and duty. It was humbling and hopeful, and those pipes always bring a tear to my eye ...

The pipe band on Brock St.

Crowds at the cenotaph