Healing

 We begin today with a powerful painting, The Soldier Returns, painted by David Whitaker in 2019. This is his father-in-law, Russell Kaye, at Juno Beach that year. Kaye had been reluctant to go with other Canadian veterans that 75th anniversary year, but was persuaded by his family to do so. Yet the trip had a profound effect upon him.

The Dutch were liberated by Canadian forces as the war came to a close, and that has resulted in the strongest of friendships between two countries. Veterans who have gone back, along with their families, speak to how beloved Canadians are to the Dutch, who have never forgotten what our soldiers did for them.

A video was playing, taken by the son of one of those veterans, accompanying his dad.

Emily Otterman escorted her veteran father on a trip back to the Netherlands, and was deeply moved by the experience. She engaged in a series of artworks inspired by it.

Last Salute is one of her works.

This is the photo album of Jeanne Caron, a nursing sister who went to war. She and her husband, who had also served, wouldn't speak of the war to their families, but their children and grandchildren convinced her of the importance to tell her story. This was, all in all, a very moving exhibit. I plan on going back before it closes.