Lest we forget

It's Rememberance Day tomorrow. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it this year. I feel melancholy. It used to be such a big deal when we were in school and we would all march out to the cenotaph and read Flanders Field and I remember feeling the same way I do now. Paying homage to faceless names from back in time where I didn't even exist. I respected the day and understood why we have it but I suppose being younger never quite realized just how important it was.

This year I think I feel different because the people I'm thinking about are people who are my friends, my family and my age. People who are still dying even though we have this day dedicated to pay honour and remember the price they paid for freedom. What bothers me is why 60 years later it's still happening and it's just as real. We now have a whole new set of veterans. It just makes me sad. It makes me cry. I think I get it now. I understand what my grandparents felt back during their war years and it must have been scarier for them.

So I will stand at the cenotaph tomorrow and I will not complain that the cold is stinging my face or that I'm getting rained on. I will stand there and I will remember for my grandparents, I will remember for my friends, I will remember for my husband and I will remember for those I don't even know.