| This is kind of late. Kevin is our lovely daughter-in-law's brother. |
While for the families of those who recently left behind the violence faced by those who answered their country's call, Christmas has taken on a magically peaceful glow. For Cpl. Kevin Fensom, a soldier with the King's Own Calgary Regiment deploying to Kandahar in the next few months, Christmas is providing him with an opportunity to reconnect with loved ones one final time before his tour. | This is his second tour. |
Fensom is heading into the heart of the fray in Afghanistan, a five-year war that has claimed 73 Canadian soldiers, one of them Cpl. Nathan Hornburg, a fellow King's Own soldier. For Fensom, this Christmas is framed by his friend's Calgary funeral in October, and his deployment in a few months' time to where Hornburg died. Hornburg was killed in combat this September while trying to help a tank that had become disabled in battle.
You can't help but think of the realities of Afghanistan, but you also can't dwell on what may happen, said Fensom. "You just have to keep positive," he said. "It is what it is and worrying about things does absolutely nothing."