He is finally with us

We met him at the funeral of a revered Ottawa matron about three years ago.  Sheila Burpee was renowned in many circles.  A devout Catholic, she and her husband Ted had had eight children -- one of whom, Joe, I had been madly in love with in high school.  He didn't even look at girls, which made him all the more desireable.  But I digress..... 

Sheila's elder daughter, Pat, had been tragically killed in a train yard accident a few years before Sheila's death, but she soldiered on.  She wasn't so much famous in Ottawa as "infamous", enjoying a tipple or two and speaking her considerably bright mind on any and all occasions. 

The author of many a brilliant letter to The Ottawa Citizen, her funeral was class through and through, with a huge family reception afterward.  It was there we met a formidable gentleman who, we learned, was about to embark on a trip to various military graveyards in Europe.  "My uncle, Clive Marley-Clarke, is buried in a military cemetary in Arezzo, Italy," said B.  "He was killed at 24 by a sniper on the march to Florence."  "I am visiting that cemetary and I will look him up," he promised.  We thanked him and kind of put it out of our minds. 

Until he called a few months later.  Not only had he found Clive's grave, he had made two rubbings of his tombstone.  We were overwhelmed.  Over dinner when he brought them to us, he told us of the visit to Arezzo cemetary and uncle Clive's headstone.  He had even brought back chestnuts he had found at the site.

The rubbings have remained in our living room blanket box for the last two years.  One we gave to daughter Sarah, but I said to B, "We have to get this framed so we can have Clive with us from now on."  Today we hung this beautifully framed rubbing.  Headed by the Edward VII Crown and Crest, it reads:
                                          Captain                                    
                                          C.D. Marley-Clarke
                                          2nd K.E. VII's O. (stands for "Own")
                                          Gurkha Rifles
                                          6th August 1944

We also have eight charcoal etchings and his Khukri, found in Clive's duffle bag when he died.  They were his bloodied weapon and likenesses of some of the Gurkha's in his troop.  Now Clive's grave marking will hang alongside his comrades. 

This will be a special Remembrance Day, as we honour Clive and so many others.