1939-45 Star A military campaign medal instituted by the United Kingdom on 8 July 1943 for award to British and Commonwealth forces for service in the Second World War
Africa Star A military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom on 8 July 1943 for award to British and Commonwealth forces who served in North Africa between 10 June 1940 and 12 May 1943 during the Second World War
Burma Star A military campaign medal, instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945 for award to British and Commonwealth forces who served in the Burma Campaign from 1941 to 1945, during the Second World War
1939-45 Defence medal A campaign medal instituted by the United Kingdom in May 1945, to be awarded to citizens of the British Commonwealth for both non-operational military and certain types of civilian war service during the Second World War
1939-45 War medal A campaign medal which was instituted by the United Kingdom on 16 August 1945, for award to citizens of the British Commonwealth who had served full-time in the Armed Forces or the Merchant Navy for at least 28 days between 3 September 1939 and 2 September 1945
1918-1962 General Service Medal (S.E. Asia 1945-46) Instituted to recognise service in minor Army and Royal Air Force operations for which no separate medal was intended. Local forces, including police, qualified for many of the clasps, as could units of the Indian Army prior to 1947
George VI Coronation medal 1937 A commemorative medal, instituted to celebrate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
9:55 am. September 10th 2023. The day I never thought I would witness.
Kuljeet was diagnosed with glioblastoma in June of 2023. Glioblastoma is Grade 4 Brain Cancer. It’s terminal. It’s merciless. The cancer took a fierce and energetic soul in only 4 months. There were no side effects during radiation treatment but in late August, the cancer came back stronger than ever. Kuljeet passed away in the palliative care unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital. She was only 46 years old and survived by her parents, brother, niece and nephew. Here’s a very beautiful tribute by CBC:
Kuljeet was born in Mackenzie BC in 1977. Our dad gave her the nickname “Pupay” and that stuck for the rest of her life. She had a larger-than-life personality that resonated everywhere she went. She had no problems talking with anyone from all walks of life. Whether it was chatting with the bebeyah at the Mackenzie gurdwara on a Sunday afternoon, or babysitting kids when she was only 12 year old. Family and friends from Mackenzie always thought she was older than me. There was no denying when Pupay entered the room or building, she just had that type of presence. After graduating from Mackenzie Secondary School in 1995, this big personality was on its way to Vancouver to start her schooling at The Columbia Academy of Radio and Television Broadcasting Arts.
She made her broadcasting debut on News 1130 in 1998. I remember hearing her voice on the radio for the first time while in my car. Early on at News 1130, she did a late shift, and I would go pick her up from the station. It was exciting to see her career unfold early on, and she was ready to take on the world.
Kuljeet had a storied career in broadcasting ranging from morning shows on the radio and as a weather and traffic anchor on TV. She had her own Marketing company that included her favorite pastime; DJing. The word that kept coming up this week was “trailblazer”. She was an Indo Canadian girl from a small town, in Northern BC trying to make her mark in the highly competitive media industry.
What I truly admired about her was that she lived life on her own terms. She ruffled a few feathers, but she was going to do it her way. At a young age, she lived in Hollywood and chased her dreams. She visited Manhattan for an extended period and brought back stories for a lifetime. They say everyone should live in New York at one point in their lives, and she did. Now she was living downtown in a beautiful apartment overlooking English Bay. Same apartment that was decorated with pictures of all her nieces and nephews. She chased her dreams but also made a huge commitment to be in the lives of her loved ones. She made it all look too easy.
Her soul is now free. She will continue with her daily walks along the boardwalk by English Bay.
As much as we wish she could’ve lived longer, she lived with purpose, she lived with integrity and mostly she just lived. She didn’t aspire to make a living, she aspired to make a difference.
My Dad always says that each person’s timeline is determined before they are born. It is the Hukam of Waheguru, it is God’s Plan. Kuljeet filled that timeline with beautiful memories.
Here’s a picture from 2013. She was a staple in our house hold when she was on CTV morning news giving us traffic updates. It was amazing how the kids would react each time they would see her live on the air.
Here is the radio demo of her from her YouTube channel.
Live on location at PNE on CTV, she had an amazing voice and personality on air.
She did a brilliant documentary on Sikh Heritage Month in Canada
My first trip to Nat Bailey stadium with my daughter was better than anticipated. Promoted as a kid friendly park, it had a complete area for kids to play. Pretty awesome setup if your kid is 2 – 12 years old and needs to exert energy.
Blogging from my phone while listening to music. Things you can do on a small device. Desktop footprint has decreased dramatically in size as well. My sister and I bought this tiny lil desktop for my dad. The Lenovo M72e.
This tiny desktop does the trick for people who check email and use Office products. Lenovo adds a solid 3 year warranty on parts as well. Solid.
Nazara’s 6th birthday party was a skating event at the Sport and Leisure Center in Surrey. The party was a success as the kids had a lot of fun and it was good to get back on the ice.
On this day of Remembrance Day, I like to remember my late grandfather, the Late Honourable Lieutenant Bhag Singh Kaila who served 28 years for the Indian Army and retired in 1961. He fought in World War II between the years 1939 – 1945 for the British Commonwealth. He served for the Indian Army from Secunderabad (a well known army and air force presence).
My goal next year with the help of my dad will be to get more information on all the medals my grandfather achieved during is 28 years in the military.
Writing my first post in awhile. This time I am using Windows Live Writer 2011 which works with WordPress. Nicely integrated with Windows Live Photo Gallery in Windows 7.
Nazara’s first field trip was to The Apple Barn in Abbotsford where we took a hay ride tour to see the pumpkin patch and apple trees as well as check out the petting barn. Weather did not cooperate but this is an excellent trip to take your kids on. Highly recommend it (without the rain).
Here are some pictures of the kids taken by my good friend Phil using his Panasonic Lumix. The cloudy weather we’ve been having in the month of June served as the backdrop to these outdoor pictures. Phil did some photo editing using Lightroom on his Mac. He uploaded the pics onto the SmugMug website which has a real nice interface for photo sharing.
Click on the image below to see the rest of the gallery:
