Manitoba woman whose son died in Bosnia named National Silver Cross Mother
CBC
Christopher Holopina was six days away from the end of his peacekeeping deployment in Bosnia when the armoured vehicle he was in rolled in a ravine.
"He was the only one [killed]," his mom, Gloria Hooper, said this week from her home in the small French village of St. Claude, Man., about 90 kilometres west of Winnipeg and just south of Portage la Prairie.
"We could hardly wait for him to come home, and I thought after, yeah, he came home, but not the way he wanted or that we wanted."
The crash that killed the 22-year-old happened July 4, 1996, but for Hooper, it might as well have been yesterday.
Many memories of the boy she said was a mischievous clown cause her to start laughing.
But the pain of losing him is present as ever.
"Oh yeah, I think of him every day — like, every single day," she said. "I can't believe it's been that long ago."
On Nov. 11, Hooper will lay a wreath at the cenotaph during the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa, representing all families who have lost a child who was serving for Canada.
She has been named this year's National Silver Cross Mother, an annual honour bestowed by the Royal Canadian Legion dating back to 1919.
When called upon to place the wreath, Hooper said her mind will be comforted by thoughts of Holopina and "what would he be doing now?"
The idea, she said, makes her smile.
That's because she knows nothing would likely be any different. So how can there be any regrets?
Despite the hurt she has learned to tolerate, Hooper has also realized Holopina was doing what he loved.
"He always said, 'If I die, I want to be in a soldier's [uniform].' And he was," she said. "If he could do anything again, he would have been there."
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