Editor:
For the travellers who perished over the Sinai, you are at rest now. Your souls have returned to Mother Russia – home to Saint Petersburg, the city our grandparents called Leningrad and Petrograd.
The city that Peter the Great built.
That great imperial and cultural capitol of our vast land, home amongst the grand boulevards, the canals, the baroque buildings and the churches basking in all of their opulence.
Home, yes home.
The city, even a crazed mad man in darker times, could not be taken from us.
For the city of Paris, known as the city of love, whose citizens only wanted to enjoy a fun-filled Friday night on the city that even the feared Norseman could not shake.
“Oui, nous sommes ici.”
We are still here to enjoy the liveliness, the splendoured beauty, the magnificent monuments to our glorious past.
For all the other victims of a mindless entity, and the children whose only crime was going to school. We will remember you.
For Canada, that dark day in October just a few years ago that still resonates, we are still here.
An attack on our land, this beautiful country, our sons and daughters bequeathed to us.
We will remain strong.
Brian Alexey Bartonova
Prince Rupert