Two years ago when Heather Campbell was sorting through a box of books she came across a Bible from her grandmother. Tucked inside was an envelope carrying a yellowing letter and a poppy from Flanders Fields sent during the First World War.

91裸聊视频淲hen I discovered that poppy in the Bible it was like 91裸聊视频� I don91裸聊视频檛 know if this is going to sound silly 91裸聊视频� it was almost like a tap on the shoulder, a quiet yet powerful whisper from the past,91裸聊视频� Campbell said in a recent interview.

91裸聊视频淚 was really quite shocked.91裸聊视频�

That poppy was among the many flowers that her great-grandfather, lieutenant-colonel George Stephen Cantlie, sent home with letters to his family. Cantlie served as the first commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Royal Highlanders of Canada.

The flowers are now part of a touring exhibit called War Flowers that is on display at the Chateau Ramezay Historic Site and Museum of Montreal until early January. It will then move to Edmonton.

91裸聊视频淭his exhibit tells stories in a way that balances hope and love with reality, reaching across continents,91裸聊视频� said Campbell, who is a registered nurse in Toronto.

Cantlie enlisted when he was 48 years old in 1915. He fought in battles in Belgium and France.

He sent his wife and one of his five children pressed flowers from the battlefield with his letters.

In a recording shared by Campbell her late aunt Elspeth Angus, who was Cantlie91裸聊视频檚 grand-daughter, describes how he came about his daily ritual.

91裸聊视频淓very night, without fail while he was over there, he wrote two letters. During the day 91裸聊视频� he would pick a flower no matter what it was, whether it was a dandelion or a rose, a forget-me-not, or a daisy, and put it between two pieces of paper that he had brought over with him and press it in a book to dry out so he could use it.91裸聊视频�

The letters to his baby daughter Celia were only a few words long.

In one dated July 4, 1916, he wrote: 91裸聊视频淒ear Wee Celia: With much love from Daddy. At the front Flanders. 1916.91裸聊视频� Folded inside is a twig with red poppies.

Another letter dated 91裸聊视频淔landers, At the Front. 28.6.16,91裸聊视频� contains daisies. 91裸聊视频淒ear Wee Celia,91裸聊视频� it reads. 91裸聊视频淔rom the trenches and shell holes with much love from Daddy.91裸聊视频�

Campbell said the letters and flowers are 91裸聊视频減robably a translatable story into any time of war, any type of adversity.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淢aybe this is a universal message to everyone that people do survive the best they can,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淭hey still can find beauty amidst things that are pretty horrific, and we should celebrate that and remember that. It91裸聊视频檚 really symbolism, isn91裸聊视频檛 it?91裸聊视频�

Her mother described Cantlie as kind and gentle. He died aged 89 on Aug. 30, 1956, when Campbell was about two years old.

Campbell said her aunt recognized the historical significance of the letters she inherited and put the exhibition into motion.

Viveka Melki, the curator of War Flowers, said she was touched by the simplicity of the letters.

91裸聊视频淭his man sends these letters even in the darkest of times. He sends them to his daughter as a symbol of beauty amongst darkness,91裸聊视频� she said.

91裸聊视频淗e doesn91裸聊视频檛 write an extensive letter, but he writes what91裸聊视频檚 essential 91裸聊视频� I love you.91裸聊视频�

Flowers are fragile but they still grew in the middle of battlefields, said Melki.

91裸聊视频淔lowers are a strange thing, aren91裸聊视频檛 they? They almost have a sacred quality to them.91裸聊视频�

Nancy Holmes, associate professor of creative and critical studies at the University of British Columbia, said the flowers sent a message of hope.

91裸聊视频淎nd if you send flowers to your family 91裸聊视频� dried flowers or pressed flowers 91裸聊视频� they are going to imagine that at least you are some place where there is flowers growing so it can91裸聊视频檛 be that bad,91裸聊视频� she added.

Stacey Barker, a historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, said flowers are not what come to mind when someone thinks about the First World War.

91裸聊视频淵ou think about mechanized warfare and the horrors of the frontline and death and killing and these flowers are really a stark juxtaposition,91裸聊视频� said Barker.

She said it was 91裸聊视频渜uite poignant91裸聊视频� that Cantlie found 91裸聊视频渢hese little bits of life on the battlefield.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭hese little, beautiful, fragile things in the midst of absolute carnage and horror and devastation. He was able to find these living, beautiful, delicate things to send home.91裸聊视频�

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press

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