The old veteran is clearly weeping, covering his eyes with his hand as he sits in front of a gravestone and his granddaughter or perhaps great-granddaughter, also crying, puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.
It’s an evocative, touching image — one that comes with a mystery. Who dropped off the painting in the foyer of the Qualicum Beach Legion and why did they do it?
Legion member Richard Paugh would like to solve that mystery, if only to give the anonymous donor a big thank you from the bottom of his heart.
“We came in one day two weeks ago and someone had come into the lobby and had left the print rolled up, with a rubber band around it and put it on the sign-in register,” he said. “The staff found it later.”
When they unrolled the picture, Paugh said the Legion members were moved by what they saw.
“It really hit me hard,” he said. “I was very emotional about it.”
Paugh had the print framed and plans to have it prominently displayed in the foyer of the Civic Centre during the Remembrance Day ceremony on Nov. 11. After that, he said, it will be hung in the Legion.
“We have no idea who dropped it off, but we would like to thank the donor,” he said. “It must have been very emotional for them as well.”