During the war years with husbands, fathers, sons, and daughters, serving in the military overseas, the family Christmas was often one where festive joy was intertwined with memories of former Christmas seasons when the family gathered and laughter once filled the family home. For some, an empty chair of one that would never return to the Christmas table would invoke a sentimental longing for the happiness of former years, happy memories mixed with a sad yearning for the past. As we research the war years, we encounter poems and stories related to the Christmas season during wartime. These two poems were discovered in the Calgary Herald of December 18, 1943, and December 24, 1943. On the Remembrance page of Lieutenant Robert Grant Howlett Wartime Heritage tells the story of the family Christmas of 1944. “Lieutenant Robert Grant Howlett died in Montreal, just before Christmas 1944, as the result of the wounds sustained in the Battle of Normandy. Upon receiving the news of his death, the family took down their Christmas tree. Then a few days later, presents from him, which had been purchased by a volunteer, arrived in the mail. One of his last acts was to tell his family how much he loved them. 1944 was a very sad Christmas for the family”. Throughout history and to the present day, the celebrations of the Christmas season can be one of sadness, hope, and remembrance, the result of war. “Remembrance, light a candle burns brightly at Christmas time.”