Yesterday, I was putting together a PowerPoint presentation on Remembrance Day Since my dad was born during World War II in a small province in the German-occupied Netherlands, eventually liberated by Canadian troops, I decided to include his story in the presentation.

To help tell his part of the story, I inserted a scan of my dad (age 4) and my uncle (age 3) taken in 1945. Growing up,I’ve seen that picture dozens of times. But this time, as I looked up after loading in the picture, it looked different. There was my three year old uncle in 1945, with my 18 month old son Matthias standing beside him. The ressemblance between my dad as a kid and my son was uncanny.

It was one of those moments you understand why history is important. The story of my dad and the liberation of his village 64 years ago is one that still impacts him (and me, and my son) today. The story of what the Canadians did and why, and who they helped needs to be told for many more years to come because it remains relevant.