The Royal Canadian Legion has chosen Mrs Colleen Fitzpatrick as the National Memorial Silver Cross Mother for 2016-2017.
“It’s a huge honour,” she says. “It’s very exciting. I’m also a little bit nervous but the biggest thing for me, I guess, is it’s very humbling. I think of all the mothers and fathers and the families out there that are in similar situations and how courageous they are.”
The Fitzpatricks will leave for Ottawa on Monday and Colleen will be participating in several events – including the laying of a wreath at the National War Memorial on Remembrance Day.
She has a two messages for all Canadians.
“First, there are families that share similar experiences – remember them. They’ve sacrificed as well. And remember our veterans. They’ve fought and they’ve served and they’ve come home but they come home sometimes quite changed forever.”
The Silver Cross was instituted in 1919 – given as a memento of personal loss and sacrifice on behalf of mothers who lost a child to military service. Fitzpatrick says she’s honoured to have been chosen to represent the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
“For me, this is a really humbling experience because there are how many hundreds of thousands of family members that are impacted by this. To say that I stand up to represent all of these families is a very humbling experience.”
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
