The story behind Jake Middleton's tribute to his grandfather's wartime sacrifice

CALGARY — The poppy fell from his father's chest and into the grave.

Jake Middleton was seven years old, standing among family and friends near the military base in Wainwright, Alta., watching as they lowered his grandfather, Robert Bruce, into the ground.

His father, Steve, was wearing a poppy. 

Somewhere in the emotion of that moment, it came loose and tumbled onto the coffin below.

Nobody said a word. Nobody needed to.

One by one, those gathered for “Papa's” funeral removed their own poppies, stepped forward and tossed them into the grave, sending their final tribute down with the man they had come to say goodbye to.

More than two decades later, Middleton still remembers.

Lest we forget.

And every Nov. 11, when the trumpets begin to sound, that little boy comes rushing back.

"You know, I always get a frog in my throat when those start playing on Remembrance Day," said the Calgary Flames defenceman.

"It's just a memory of his funeral."

It's a memory that has never really left him. Neither has the man who inspired it.

Middleton wears his family history on his left arm, quite literally.

His extensive tattoo sleeve is a deeply personal tribute to his grandfather, a Second World War dispatch rider who served in North Africa, France, Germany and England.

It's a remarkable piece of work, and Middleton has never been particularly shy about showing it off. Those familiar with his entertaining media availabilities know they’re often delivered shirtless.

But there's considerably more to it than ink and impressive artwork.

There's a grandson's love for a grandfather he lost too young, a family's military history and an appreciation for sacrifices that become increasingly meaningful with age.

He remembers his grandfather playing the harmonica, painting houses and spending time in his wood shop. He remembers the little things Papa did around the house, including freezing coloured water into ice and letting it fall across the snow in winter.

And he remembers the motorcycle.

Bruce rode his Harley-Davidson alongside, and ahead, of military convoys, scouting for enemy positions and carrying information back to the troops.

It was dangerous work.

"They were 18-year-old kids," Middleton explained. 

His father had told him that if his grandfather encountered the enemy ahead of a convoy, it could come down to two frightened young men firing at each other before scrambling back to warn the others.

Some of the medals Bruce earned, along with memories of that motorcycle, remain part of Middleton's connection to his grandfather, carefully depicted across his forearm.

It's also where his love affair with Harleys began.

This fall, Middleton rode his own Softail Cross Bones Harley out to Calgary, with his 70-year-old father alongside him.

Somewhere along that journey, past and present met again. The grandson riding a machine reminiscent of the one his grandfather rode through a world at war, with the son of that veteran sharing the road.

Middleton's fascination with his grandfather's stories even extended to something as ordinary as a glass of water.

Papa once told him about a long march during the war in Italy, when one of his platoon mates drank freezing cold water and died.

It was a story a young Jake never forgot.

"I haven't had a drink of cold water in a long time," Middleton recalled. 

"Still to this day I prefer it at room temperature."

The tattoos came together over six 12-hour sessions. 

Netflix and a whole lot of ink.

His family hadn't been particularly enthusiastic about tattoos, so he kept the bigger picture to himself. The artwork was family-oriented, including Cardinals honouring his grandparents on his mother's side.

When his father eventually saw what his son had done to honour Papa, the moment was understandably overwhelming.

There is another family landmark in Wainwright that keeps Bruce's memory alive. Papa helped build the family's Honeypot Eatery and Pub, transforming what had been a family home into a restaurant downstairs, with hotel rooms upstairs.

It's still operating today, with Middleton's cousins carrying on the family business.

Middleton's father recently visited Calgary and handed his son a poppy before Joke headed out on the road.

With the family back in Canada, Steve reminded him of the importance of wearing one for Remembrance Day.

Middleton didn't need much convincing.

"It's kind of a lost art when I was living in the States," said Middleton, 30.

"They don't really have them at every grocery store or gas station to put on. But now that we're back here, it's definitely something I try to remember."

He wears it with pride.

And when the ceremony begins before Wednesday’s Flames game against the New York Rangers, when the trumpets sound and the memories come flooding back, he'll undoubtedly feel that familiar frog in his throat.

He’ll reflect on the day he watched a poppy fall into a grave, never quite forgetting the moment.

Some things are worth carrying forever.

For Jake Middleton, one of them happens to be written all over his skin.