Two years ago when Heather Campbell was sorting through a box of books she came across a Bible from her grandmother. Tucked inside was an envelope carrying a yellowing letter and a poppy from Flanders Fields sent during the First World War.

鈥淲hen I discovered that poppy in the Bible it was like 鈥� I don鈥檛 know if this is going to sound silly 鈥� it was almost like a tap on the shoulder, a quiet yet powerful whisper from the past,鈥� Campbell said in a recent interview.

鈥淚 was really quite shocked.鈥�

That poppy was among the many flowers that her great-grandfather, lieutenant-colonel George Stephen Cantlie, sent home with letters to his family. Cantlie served as the first commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Royal Highlanders of Canada.

The flowers are now part of a touring exhibit called War Flowers that is on display at the Chateau Ramezay Historic Site and Museum of Montreal until early January. It will then move to Edmonton.

鈥淭his exhibit tells stories in a way that balances hope and love with reality, reaching across continents,鈥� said Campbell, who is a registered nurse in Toronto.

Cantlie enlisted when he was 48 years old in 1915. He fought in battles in Belgium and France.

He sent his wife and one of his five children pressed flowers from the battlefield with his letters.

In a recording shared by Campbell her late aunt Elspeth Angus, who was Cantlie鈥檚 grand-daughter, describes how he came about his daily ritual.

鈥淓very night, without fail while he was over there, he wrote two letters. During the day 鈥� he would pick a flower no matter what it was, whether it was a dandelion or a rose, a forget-me-not, or a daisy, and put it between two pieces of paper that he had brought over with him and press it in a book to dry out so he could use it.鈥�

The letters to his baby daughter Celia were only a few words long.

In one dated July 4, 1916, he wrote: 鈥淒ear Wee Celia: With much love from Daddy. At the front Flanders. 1916.鈥� Folded inside is a twig with red poppies.

Another letter dated 鈥淔landers, At the Front. 28.6.16,鈥� contains daisies. 鈥淒ear Wee Celia,鈥� it reads. 鈥淔rom the trenches and shell holes with much love from Daddy.鈥�

Campbell said the letters and flowers are 鈥減robably a translatable story into any time of war, any type of adversity.鈥�

鈥淢aybe this is a universal message to everyone that people do survive the best they can,鈥� she said.

鈥淭hey still can find beauty amidst things that are pretty horrific, and we should celebrate that and remember that. It鈥檚 really symbolism, isn鈥檛 it?鈥�

Her mother described Cantlie as kind and gentle. He died aged 89 on Aug. 30, 1956, when Campbell was about two years old.

Campbell said her aunt recognized the historical significance of the letters she inherited and put the exhibition into motion.

Viveka Melki, the curator of War Flowers, said she was touched by the simplicity of the letters.

鈥淭his man sends these letters even in the darkest of times. He sends them to his daughter as a symbol of beauty amongst darkness,鈥� she said.

鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 write an extensive letter, but he writes what鈥檚 essential 鈥� I love you.鈥�

Flowers are fragile but they still grew in the middle of battlefields, said Melki.

鈥淔lowers are a strange thing, aren鈥檛 they? They almost have a sacred quality to them.鈥�

Nancy Holmes, associate professor of creative and critical studies at the University of British Columbia, said the flowers sent a message of hope.

鈥淎nd if you send flowers to your family 鈥� dried flowers or pressed flowers 鈥� they are going to imagine that at least you are some place where there is flowers growing so it can鈥檛 be that bad,鈥� she added.

Stacey Barker, a historian at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, said flowers are not what come to mind when someone thinks about the First World War.

鈥淵ou think about mechanized warfare and the horrors of the frontline and death and killing and these flowers are really a stark juxtaposition,鈥� said Barker.

She said it was 鈥渜uite poignant鈥� that Cantlie found 鈥渢hese little bits of life on the battlefield.鈥�

鈥淭hese little, beautiful, fragile things in the midst of absolute carnage and horror and devastation. He was able to find these living, beautiful, delicate things to send home.鈥�

Hina Alam, The Canadian Press

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