The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Judy Bishop has a voice that almost sings; she has a folksy way of structuring her sentences and terms of endearment flow freely, framed by her Newfoundland brogue. Although this mother of two ends or starts most statements with ÔdarlingÕ, ÔsweetieÕ, or ÔloveÕ, shortly into this conversation, one can easily tell that there are only three real sweeties in her life Ð a husband and two sons, one of whom is about to go off to war. Judy and Bob BishopÕs son David has been deployed to Afghanistan. David, who will be 25 in July, is a member of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, stationed in CFB Shilo, and has been in the Forces for five years this April. He originally signed up in Winnipeg and then immediately went for his basic training at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School (CFLRS) in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. With concern in her voice, Judy says that her sonÕs last two years of training have been as a sniper. However, with pride she adds that he was recently promoted to the rank of Corporal, noting that as far as she knows, he will be deployed to the Kandahar region as a sniper. Judy says that it seems her son has always wanted to join the Forces. She recalls a time back when the family lived in Leaf Rapids. David was 16, in school, and taking a class that was looking at a variety of careers via computers and the Internet. ÒFor some reason, David picked up the idea of joining the army through that,Ó she said. ÒI remember, my husband Bob got this phone call while I was at work one day, from some Sergeant asking for David. Of course he was taken aback. He asked what he wanted David for? The sergeant said, ÔWell, I guess you donÕt know that he applied to go into the army?Õ Bob told him, ÔHe isnÕt going into any army; you wonÕt have any worries about that, not at 16!Õ Anyway, the fella said to tell him that if he was still interested when he turned 18, that he could call them back.Ó It appears that once the family had moved to Snow Lake in October of 2002, the army was still on DavidÕs mind. He called them one day and sure enough, they sent him all of the required paperwork. He filled it out and after some preliminary testing, he was accepted and sent off to Quebec for basic training. He did his first year of training there, graduating from CFLRS in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. Judy is no different than any other mother; she has tried to teach her children right from wrong and always wanted the best for them. And as any mother could well imagine, the thought of sending a son off to war is almost unfathomable in this day and age. ÒThe way I have always been with my kids is smack them when they were bad and kiss them when they were good,Ó said Judy. ÒOh LordÉ IÕm happy for him, because he is really excited and wanting to go, but I have a lot of mixed feelings about him going. We are the type of people that never hurt anyone, you knowÉ even if theyÕre bad people. But we believe what is meant to happen is going to happen.Ó When queried about her opinion of the war in , Judy replies with honesty and candor. ÒIt is a shame to say that I donÕt really know a whole lot about the mission or situation,Ó she replied. ÒI want to know more and understand it, and I will most certainly do that. I want to know if heÕs doing some good over there.Ó My Take on Snow Lake runs Fridays.
