Remembrance Day started decades ago to commemorate military men and women who died serving their country. Cemeteries, parades, and properly posted flags could be observed in towns all around the US today. I respect the people that voluntarily enlist knowing the risks and benefits, the rules and the freedoms, the comraderie and the honor. The wars they fight in and may die for require us to demand explanations and justifications for armed conflicts; as Pres. Lincoln so eloquently stated, we do not want others to die in vain, so I suppose formally remembering and reflecting on the positive changes brought about by national and world wars--and those that helped fight for those changes--is really the least we civilians enjoying a day off of work can do. In recent years, Memorial Day has come to represent a general day of mourning for all that have passed--veterans or not. Today has been set aside to remember the dead and reflect on the effect on the living.
I do not know anyone in the armed services who has died on duty, but I have experienced the loss of loved ones. I have also experienced the loss of innocence, dreams, and faith. But what is the point of living in the past--of dwelling on what we have lost? Yes, to lose something or someone you love is tragic, and the void may be irreplaceable. However, what have you gained from those losses? Knowledge? Courage? Perspective?
While today may remind us of goodbyes, I think today also prompts us to move forward and see the present and future not as a blank slate of annihilism but as empty boxes waiting to be filled with experience. Good and bad experience. Unknown experience. Our experience.
This past month has forced me to remember and reflect, experience and ponder, live and imagine. The last 31 days have prompted me to celebrate each day, mourn the casualties, respect the experience. I remember.
Will you?
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