Highway of Heroes

Good Day Company Girls! I'm writing this on Thursday because I hope to get out the door as soon as possible tomorrow because it's my day off!!!!!



Before I forget, my eldest daughter has joined a writing group...she goes under the name Hadassah Ryan......she always wanted to name one of her kids Hadassah...if you have a moment then check it out...she's pretty good if I do say so...and the articles are interesting....

http://www.helium.com/search/search?search_query=Hadassah+Ryan&search_context=Unknown



Last Saturday, I had quite an experience. I had to take one of my daughters for a job interview, for a summer position at a camp...(poor kid just found out yesterday that she didn't get it). Anyways, on the way back home we were driving on a major highway, or freeway as they call them in the states....and we began to see a lot of police cars, emergency vehicles...all with their light flashing....,the further on we went we saw people, pulled over to the side of the road and standing outside their vehicles....they were all staring at the roadway behind me. At first, I thought..'has their been some disaster that I don't know about?'....as we travelled along my daughter said...'what is it?'...I said well, the only thing I can think of is that a soldier is being brought home....you see....when a Canadian soldier is killed in Afghanistan, he (or she)is brought home to one of the military bases. My son had to do his turn at duty at the military base once...he says he never wants to do it again....it's quite sobering. Then they are taken by car to a major city (Toronto) for the autopsy...from there, they are driven to their hometown for burial. The highway from the military base to Toronto has been named the Highway of Heroes...and I've seen the news clips of all the people, standing in respect on the overpasses, waiting for the Hearst to go by.



I've never personally witnessed it.



We don't live near that stretch of highway, but one of the soldiers, recently killed lives down the highway in a town in the Niagara area......just past where I live.



My daughter asked if we were going to pull over....I said no...I wanted to get home.....but with each overpass that we went under, I felt my emotions filling up inside me......my son is in the army.....fortunately, for me...he hasn't been deployed yet...but I couldn't help the overwhelming feeling that came over me as the tears rolled down my face......I prayed for the family that was dealing with this devastation right now......and as we came to our exit,...I pulled over...and waited.



About 20 minutes later, the small convoy of police cars and the Hearst came by....you felt compelled to get out of your vehicle and silently, respectfully watch it go by.



It was a sobering sight.......when I returned home, I immediately sought out my husband and told him what I had witnessed...I needed a hug.


I tried to put a link to the Highway to Heroes but was unsuccessful...but if you google it you can see what I'm talking about.





My son has a bumper sticker on his truck that says something like this........If you can't stand behind our troops then feel free to stand in front of us..........now I hate the fighting, the war...the killing...but we have to support these people that are willing to do it so we can live in our country.