My Uncle Leo died in World War II so I didn’t know him personally. But I heard so many stories about him from my other uncles, aunts and grandparents that I feel that I know him. He loved a good joke, was a bit of a skinflint, and was deathly afraid of snakes. He gave up a good job with Shell so his little brother could go to work for them…Uncle Clifton had a wife and baby, after all. My granddad said I reminded him of Uncle Leo, and from him that was high praise, indeed. Granddad never spoke about his oldest son without tearing up, and he wasn’t a man to cry. We named our oldest Leo, and hope he lives a long and rich life, but our family lost a major member due to war, and we are all the poorer for it, so we think of all the families that have been affected in this way by the awful cost of war…lives and limbs and peace-of-mind, and pray for leaders who think long and hard about sending our young men and women into harms way.
The Awful Cost of War
