On ANZAC Day

I'm almost blind when it comes to Australian history, so I can't explain properly what is ANZAC day. The only thing I know is that it resembles Indonesian Veterans day, but not quite, since ANZAC has something to do with commemoration of a big battle in Gallipoli, Turkey, where a huge number of Australian and New Zealand military personells were died. 

Yesterday was the ANZAC day, and I actually wanted to join the parade, but instead I went jogging in the morning and came to the city later on. I thought I missed the entire event. Luckily, I still saw the last part of the parade, a ceremony in the court near Swan River. It was freaking hot for me, yet I saw many Grandpas and Grandmas, with stars and medals on their chests, stood proudly near the stage where the Governor gave speech. When the ceremony was finished, the streets of Perth city were filled by those Veterans, walked proudly with smile.

I continued my adventure to Kings Park, where the entire parade of ANZAC day started earlier that day. It is a beautiful place on the hill where people can see the view of Perth city, its sky-scrappers, Swan River and the bridges. I chose to go uphill manually by stairs. 242 stairs were almost enough to bring me an asthma attack, but then when I reached the top, I was satisfied. When I sat on the park, I remembered my Grandpa. He wasn't my Mom's Dad, but he's my Mom's Uncle. He was the one who saw me grew up in my childhood, and he was the reason why it was never be so lonely although my parents were busy. He passed away when I was 14, but his stories about war time were always in my mind. Come to think of it, those stories were never miserable. He was always proud about serving Indonesia, as a pharmacist who became the army's medical corps member and occasionally smuggling secret letters from one batallion to the other. Maybe he was the one who inspired me to be a close-to-medical-field person, I don't know, I can't remember. But one thing that I remembered the most was that he once said that no matter whatever I would be in the future, he believed that I would be a great person. Being great is hard, and although it is not always mean "being famous", it never comes naturally, but that's why I try to be. 


And when I sat on Kings Park, I wonder, if he were one of those Grandpas, which stars or which medals he would wore on his chest during the parade. I never thought if he even had any of them.