Remembrance Day Blog
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:00
The entire Convention Center was packed with people from all parts of Winnipeg, gathering for a common purpose: to remember. As I looked out of the hundreds of people around me, my eyes scanning the premises, they came to rest on an elderly man and a small girl sitting in front of me reading a book together. The little girl was pointing at pictures and turning pages, while the man looked straight ahead of him at a video playing clips of the war. He his face was sombre and tears were streaming down his cheeks. The little girl would excitedly look up wanting to share what was on the pages of the book, tugging on his arm to get his attention. As the girl persisted, the man would snap back into the present to enter into the child’s world, but he still appeared distant, his mind perhaps in another time or place...
It’s good to remember. It’s good to relive the moments in our lives that have shaped us, changed us, and sometimes even defined us. It’s good to grieve our losses, to take time to stop, reflect, and look back on the past. If we don’t, we are foolish and often blind while entering into the present and future. The past teaches us, the past holds secrets and wisdom. But sometimes remembering is painful. Sometimes we want to push forward and forget the past. What would happen if we would enter into that pain and embrace it rather than ignore it?
On Remembrance Day we take time to remember. Perhaps, this day which allows us to remember could be a valuable lesson we could apply to our everyday lives. Imagine what would change if we would set aside 2 minutes in our day to remember? Not only would our past be commemorated, honoured, and perhaps even healed, but maybe it would revolutionize our future as well...
-Natalie Elliott