Patricia Braun snapped an impromptu picture of her son David on the day he was preparing to leave for the mission in Afghanistan.
He had a grin on his face that his mother remembers well.
"I got a quick snap of him and it's a really good picture," Braun told CTV.
It was the last picture she took of him.
After heading to Afghanistan, David Braun was killed while on patrol in Kandahar.
He was the victim of a suicide bomber, just 27 years old when he died on Aug. 22, 2006.
Five years later, his mom is serving as this year's Silver Cross mother -- the woman who for one year represents all of the mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the military, para-military or the RCMP in the service of Canada.
On Friday morning, she laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa in front of the thousands of soldiers, veterans and others who gathered for the Nov. 11 ceremony.
After placing the wreath, she kissed it and bowed her head for a brief moment before stepping away.
The kiss was a "spur of the moment thing" she said later, during an interview on CTV's Power Play.
Braun explained that she's not bitter or angry over the loss of her son. "And that's strange, because I do have a bit of a temper. But I don't blame even the person who killed him."
Braun recalled her son as private, intensely loyal "and no angel" -- recounting with a laugh an incident when, at 16, he and his friends were chased out of a nearby town over a disagreement with another local boy.
When he died and his body was brought back to Canadian soil, his mother and siblings attended his repatriation ceremony.
When it was over, his mother made a toast.
"Here's to David, we're not going to let this beat us," Braun said.
"We're going to keep going and we're going to stay strong. Not that we won't have our moments. Because if he was here and we didn't do those things, he'd kick our asses."
Braun said she believes the Canadians who have gone with the Forces to Afghanistan have helped make a difference in the war-torn country.
"I think all our military made a difference in Afghanistan," said Braun.
This Remembrance Day, Braun hopes the public will remember the more than 900 Canadians who remain there, helping to train Afghan security forces so they can one day stand on their own.
