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Anzac Day. A moment we reflect on all the service men and women before us.

My Dad was in the Vietnam War. He used to talk about it being the only lottery he won – and the one he didn’t sign up for.

Throughout my childhood – he only ever talked of the friendships he made, the experiences he had, and memories of this time. He would tell us of the time he slept through night watch, only to wake to see the Lion’s Footprints around their tent sight. He would tell us of the late-night stories around campfires, writing back home to loved ones and the plans of what they would do when they got home.

He painted the time in a way that as a child, I wanted to hear. And my heart hoped that these were the main moments he also remembered. As I have grown older, I have understood that these weren’t the only experiences he had.

Anzac Day was a big day in our family. We would line the streets to wave at dad - whilst his mates would “high five” us kids. They were the scruffy group, the fun group, the group dad always described.

As we got older, we would meet Dad and his mates at the British for a beer and hear that Lion story over and over again. The first year after dad had passed away, we did the Anzac march, went to the British, and a beer was placed on the counter for dad. It stayed there all day. At dad’s funeral, not one of his war mates wore a suit – they laughed, they smiled, they still were the scruffy group.

What I learnt from this, is that each experience we have, we will have so many different lessons to learn from it. We will have hard times we want to hide, and good times that we want to highlight. It’s which memories we want played on the highlight reel that will define how we cope with these moments.

This lesson is one we can embrace for our little ones. We want them to feel, acknowledge and deal with the difficult moments. But then we can keep those happy, joy filled laughter memories attached as the highlight reel. The ones that can replay over and over – when we need it most. We can choose the highlight reel we want to play

On Anzac day we remember . We are thankful. And we honour our service men and women.

Thank you, Dad - for what I have learnt. That each moment in our life will have different lessons – and it is which highlight reel I choose to play, will help me cope with each moments.