Photo description:

Retired history teacher Robert Ferguson takes a moment to collect his thoughts while speaking with Sun reporter Rylee Gerrard at his Neepawa home last week. Ferguson first started making wooden crosses adorned with poppies for the graves of local veterans six years ago. Since then, some 2,000 such crosses have been placed on veteran graves in at least 12 communities in western Manitoba. (Matt Goerzen/The Brandon Sun)