When a former soldier can’t make it to the Remembrance Day ceremony, sometimes you have to bring the Remembrance Day ceremony to that former solider. More specifically, sometimes you have to bring it to your father.
For retired warrant officer Mike Downey, his daughters have a surprise in store for him on Nov. 11. This year is already unique for him, though he can’t make it to the public service at the cenotaph.
As long as Jessica Downey can remember, the family has always attended the Remembrance Day ceremony no matter where they lived. Like many military families, they moved around the country a fair bit, from Chilliwack to Cold Lake to Gagetown, yet they always made sure to pay their tributes every Nov. 11.
“He was in the military for 35 years and he's quite proud of his time served with the Canadian Armed Forces," she began, noting his service as a peacekeeper. He served as a heavy-duty mechanic in the Gulf War, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in the Golan Heights, among others.
"This year, we're not sure if this might be our last Remembrance Day together,” she said, revealing that her father has been battling cancer for the last two years and his prognosis is not optimistic.
"It's no lie that his time is coming. It's coming sooner than any of us had ever thought it would," she continued.
“It's just been a battle ever since, going through all of the treatments and all of the ups and downs. You have your good days, and then you have your bad days. We're grateful that we're a close family and we all live close by. It just means so much to me to be able to plan this for him and just show him just how important he is to us. I think it's going to be a great way to show that.”
Jessica and her sister Brianne Feehan tried to think of what they could do to make the day extra special for him. With COVID, they weren't able to take a family trip to Hawaii like they had originally hoped. That would have been too much of a challenge to fit in between all of his treatments.
The two sisters think the world of her father and wish there was a better way to show both their love for him as a person and their appreciation for his service, and for that of other veterans.
"Most of us wish that we could buy our parents an island, but we're like, ‘Here's this drawing I drew for you.’ You just can't put a price tag on what you would provide for them if you could afford to," said Jessica.
On the morning of Thursday, Nov. 11, the public is invited to attend the Downey driveway at 47 Durocher St. There will be some opening announcements at 10:50 a.m. that will be followed by two minutes of silence right at 11. A bagpiper will follow.
Downey and Feehan are proud to offer their father a salute like no other. He doesn't talk about his tours much.
"I think it's pretty special what we're doing. The only thing that is costing us is time to plan it and put it together. It's going to be better than anything that anyone could ever buy for him," she added. "These guys … PTSD runs so strong in their blood after a tour, and they never seem to come back the same people that they left. I think a lot of people don't realize how much a tour will affect them and their families. Something like this is just going to hold a lot of meaning. I think it's going to be really special."
More details can be found by searching for the event, called 'A Very Special Remembrance Day' on Facebook. Downey emphasized that this is for all veterans, not just her father.
“I've reached out to the community to just make him feel extra special this year and just feel appreciated and let other military service personnel and veterans see as well that they are appreciated," she said.
"We always wait until someone passes away to show them just how much they mean to us and so I think this is going to be a really nice way for him to see that before he's gone."
