This is going to be a reflective one.
Because, you see, I am writing this blog post on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the time, the hour, when we pause in our busy lives to honour and remember those who gave their lives so we might live on with all the freedoms we currently enjoy.
Temptations
There’s a temptation to link that thought to the danger posed by certain emergent political authorities and how easy it would be for those rights and freedoms to be stripped from us, even now. A temptation to rally a call to ensure that the sacrifices we honour today are never allowed to be for nothing.
For now, though, I’ll resist because, as I say, I’m feeling reflective.
Just before I opened up the laptop and started tapping away I took the time to pop outside and pay my last respects to the wife of a neighbour. I didn’t know the lady, nor was I on more than nodding terms with the husband she left behind, but, today of all days, it seemed the decent thing to do.
Because witnessing that small coffin being carried away with such solemnity brought the realities of so many losses felt by so many people bang up to date. It’s not just history, it’s thousands upon thousands of messy, personal stories brought to a premature end. That’s what we mark today, the sacrifice of so many individuals, each with their own loves and friendships. Their own lives.
Be. Here. Now.
Life is a fragile thing. Too easily is it broken and crushed. Too easily is it disrupted. Too easily is it curtailed. And so, on this day of remembrance, let us acknowledge the many, many sacrifices of those who have trodden this road before us—but let us also raise our eyes from the dusty path to the beauty, the love, and the friendships that surround us. Let us take that silent minute and expand it into a reflection of just how lucky we all are to be here, now.
Lest we forget.
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died, is available now as both paperback, E-book, and on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m adding the link to that, too.
Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.
The Heart That Died
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
For now, though, I’ll resist because, as I say, I’m feeling reflective.
Just before I opened up the laptop and started tapping away I took the time to pop outside and pay my last respects to the wife of a neighbour. I didn’t know the lady, nor was I on more than nodding terms with the husband she left behind, but, today of all days, it seemed the decent thing to do.
Because witnessing that small coffin being carried away with such solemnity brought the realities of so many losses felt by so many people bang up to date. It’s not just history, it’s thousands upon thousands of messy, personal stories brought to a premature end. That’s what we mark today, the sacrifice of so many individuals, each with their own loves and friendships. Their own lives.
Be. Here. Now.
Life is a fragile thing. Too easily is it broken and crushed. Too easily is it disrupted. Too easily is it curtailed. And so, on this day of remembrance, let us acknowledge the many, many sacrifices of those who have trodden this road before us—but let us also raise our eyes from the dusty path to the beauty, the love, and the friendships that surround us. Let us take that silent minute and expand it into a reflection of just how lucky we all are to be here, now.
Lest we forget.
#
Hey, there! If you enjoyed reading any of the above, why not take a look at some of my published work? Below you’ll find links to a number of short stories I’m lucky enough to have included in anthologies. I’d love to know what you think. My debut novel, The Heart That Died, is available now as both paperback, E-book, and on Kindle Unlimited, so I’m adding the link to that, too.
Oh, and if you like what you look-see, a nice, positive review would also be most welcome.
The Heart That Died
New Tales Of Old
Death Ship
Pestilence: Drabbles 1
Reaperman: Drabbles 3
The Musketeers Vs Cthulhu
Eldritch Investigations
Reading what you wrote reminded me of something my therapist, who later became my mentor, once told me. This month marks one year since she left us for good (I don't remember her exact words, but this is pretty much what it meant):
ReplyDelete'Don't forget that when I am no longer here, you will remember me in your most beautiful moments, but remember the less pleasant memories too, because you won't miss me quite as much, and the pain of my departure won't weigh on you as heavily. Don't forget that life is a story full of adventures and you are the one writing it, so that when you finally fall asleep forever, you can be satisfied with what you wrote in the story of your life, because each of us is a book.'
So I can say that the people who were once part of our story always stay with us, we just have to remember them from time to time.