Rob Keeble
Member
- Messages
- 12,633
- Location
- GTA Ontario Canada
Up in the great white North (yeah right !!! after yesterdays heatwave) our national broadcaster the CBC is inviting viewers to post their pictures related to encounters with the Royal Family.
As you may or may not know, Queen Elizabeth 2 is celebrating her diamond jubilee this year and with her being Head of State in Canada the CBC wanted to get the ball rolling in the celebrations and build a wall of pictures of Canadians encounters with the Royal Family. We have just had Prince Chales and wife. over here on a visit in honor of the celebrations.
Now i have to admit i have had to somewhat modify my attitude and thoughts regarding royalty given the Queens status in my new country of choice. So with this more positive attitude towards Royalty and in consideration of my Dads lifelong love and service to all that is Royal Family related I took the bait and today joined the CBC community news site and uploaded my own Royal Encounter story.
You can see the picture of my Dad, taken inside Buckingham Palace back in 1993, with the Queen pinning the MBE upon his lapel along with my article related to the picture and my royal encounter by clicking here.
He did not have an easy life at all. I dont think many of his generation did. But they did what they had to do when it was neccessary and they did not whine about it.
Can you imagine getting kicked out of home at age 13 with poor education at best having been shunted from pillar to post around a vast undeveloped country, all due to his father being a railway guardsman on the railways back in the day.
We have chatted about why people start their own businesses after loosing jobs, well many times its because there is no alternative, in his case when he was booted from home (my grandfather was not a nice guy) along with his brothers, the Royal Navy recruiting sign was a shining light of hope. After a couple of fillings (lol that was the requirement then) he was in and signed up and off to the UK for training. Spent the best part of his youth in the Navy on the high seas.
He is quiet an amazing man still around and retains all his wits soon to be 95 years old. Will be interested to see his reaction when he opens the link i sent him to the article. It will be good for a laugh i bet.
To all us spring chickens out there spare a thought for all our old timers.
The aspect that i never thought of until my Dad mentioned it to me while we were chatting one day, is that when you reach a ripe old age, many of those you have known in life have passed on. As you get older the world becomes more and more foreign with all the changes you have to digest and your contact with people you know and can relate to shrinks. He talks of the loneliness at being the only one of his group around today. His one last remaining friend of his generation is a German survivor of the Battleship Bismarck which he met with several times after the war. Today they keep each other company through frequent telephone calls. Who would ever think that a person you faced in battle would one day become your dear friend. But they can relate to what they went through. It did not matter which side they were on.
here is a pdf of a drawing he made showing his guide to success.
View attachment Dads 5 attitudes.pdf
Enjoy
As you may or may not know, Queen Elizabeth 2 is celebrating her diamond jubilee this year and with her being Head of State in Canada the CBC wanted to get the ball rolling in the celebrations and build a wall of pictures of Canadians encounters with the Royal Family. We have just had Prince Chales and wife. over here on a visit in honor of the celebrations.
Now i have to admit i have had to somewhat modify my attitude and thoughts regarding royalty given the Queens status in my new country of choice. So with this more positive attitude towards Royalty and in consideration of my Dads lifelong love and service to all that is Royal Family related I took the bait and today joined the CBC community news site and uploaded my own Royal Encounter story.
You can see the picture of my Dad, taken inside Buckingham Palace back in 1993, with the Queen pinning the MBE upon his lapel along with my article related to the picture and my royal encounter by clicking here.
He did not have an easy life at all. I dont think many of his generation did. But they did what they had to do when it was neccessary and they did not whine about it.
Can you imagine getting kicked out of home at age 13 with poor education at best having been shunted from pillar to post around a vast undeveloped country, all due to his father being a railway guardsman on the railways back in the day.
We have chatted about why people start their own businesses after loosing jobs, well many times its because there is no alternative, in his case when he was booted from home (my grandfather was not a nice guy) along with his brothers, the Royal Navy recruiting sign was a shining light of hope. After a couple of fillings (lol that was the requirement then) he was in and signed up and off to the UK for training. Spent the best part of his youth in the Navy on the high seas.
He is quiet an amazing man still around and retains all his wits soon to be 95 years old. Will be interested to see his reaction when he opens the link i sent him to the article. It will be good for a laugh i bet.
To all us spring chickens out there spare a thought for all our old timers.
The aspect that i never thought of until my Dad mentioned it to me while we were chatting one day, is that when you reach a ripe old age, many of those you have known in life have passed on. As you get older the world becomes more and more foreign with all the changes you have to digest and your contact with people you know and can relate to shrinks. He talks of the loneliness at being the only one of his group around today. His one last remaining friend of his generation is a German survivor of the Battleship Bismarck which he met with several times after the war. Today they keep each other company through frequent telephone calls. Who would ever think that a person you faced in battle would one day become your dear friend. But they can relate to what they went through. It did not matter which side they were on.
here is a pdf of a drawing he made showing his guide to success.
View attachment Dads 5 attitudes.pdf
Enjoy