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Destiny in it's infinite wisdom deals the hands of life and all we can do is play those cards the best we can.

We bluff and fake. We bet when we shouldn't, and fold when we should take a chance.

As a baby-boomer, it seems I was dealt all the right cards. I was born after the second war, and being Canadian, was the wrong nationality to fight in Vietnam. I'm too old for Iraq or Afghanistan. As a boomer Canadian, I get to watch far too many of our finest soldiers come home in flag-draped coffins. Our best young men. Our heroes.

I get to watch far too many of any countries soldiers come home in flag-draped coffins.

The are too many heroes in Heaven.

In my case, being a boomer leaves me feeling that I've done little to protect the freedom of all we hold dear. It always seemed like the task was left up to the generation just before or just after.

My youth is rich with memories of The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Woodstock and Haight-Ashbury. Of peace marches and flower children. Of free love.

The glory days of my youth.

The same days when a generation on the far side of the world awoke to the sound of whizzing bullets, napalm, and exploding shells. Of death and destruction.

Of sadness and despair.

I hope as the golden years approach, that I can take heart in the knowledge that I lived my life the best I could. That had a twist of fortune called me to war, I would have gone.

But ultimately, we play the cards of life as they are dealt. It is destined.

It is not a choice.

Learn more about this author, Ray Fauteux.
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