For a five-year-old girl from Bowmanville, Remembrance Day has very special personal significance, as it brought her a special friendship with a veteran.
Despite an age difference that spans nine decades, Raegan Boone and 95-year-old Ivan Cote have been inseparable ever since they met two years ago when Raegan was handing out homemade poppies to veterans at a Remembrance Day ceremony.
Cote happened to be one of the veterans to receive one, and from there, the two hit it off and forged an unlikely, but strong bond.
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“She also reminded me of my two girls too.”
Raegan’s mother, Lindsey Boone, has had a front-row seat to the blossoming friendship, having been there at the time of their first meeting. She was hopeful from the beginning that they would stay friends.
“I hope she understands the sacrifices that these amazing people have made for her and everyone else, and that it’s really important to our family,” she told Global News.
Lindsey said their first visit after that Remembrance Day ceremony was Cote’s birthday, so Raegan and the family went over and ate cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday.
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On other visits, the two may play pool, colour or play chess — “anything they can keep busy doing together.”
Cote served as an aircraft mechanic in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War.
To most, he’s a war hero, but to Reagan, he’s simply her best friend.
This Saturday marks the third Remembrance Day the two will spend together, but unfortunately, it may be their last.
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Cote is moving from his home in Whitby to a retirement home in North Bay next week, and he knows he may never see Raegan again.
“I’m nearly 96,” he said. “It can be a sad thing, too. But I hope she remembers me when she’s growing up. She’s a wonderful little girl.
“I will be thinking about her every Remembrance Day.”
The feeling is mutual for Raegan, who said she and Cote will be “friends forever.”
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