Never Forget

Today is a very important day. One of the things I miss most about England is the amazing history we have and all the time and energy that goes in to preserving the memories from the past. I love history and the parts I find most interesting are the two world wars, partly because I can't understand how something like that can happen and partly because I like to learn about the people, their individual stories and the pride in the way people pulled together. The lifestyle was so different to what I've experienced, I want to know as much as possible! Now I think about it, last month sitting in the doctors office with Paige there was a old couple sitting next to me and he was a veteran and his wife waited for him during the war, it was a fantastic fifteen minutes talking to them about their memories!
As a teenager I was extremely lucky to be able to go on two separate history trips, the first one to Belgium where we went through the trenches and tried running through the pot holed fields of the Somme. Some of those craters were crazy and I can remember going through an underground trench, hunched over in the pitch black trusting the hand of the person in front of me. I remember going to the Menin Gate in Ypres and reading thousands of names and being there for the evening ceremony, listening to the Last Post. It was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had and I treasure the memories and the importance it instilled in me to never forget.
The second trip I went on was to Normandy where we walked through the graveyards reading the names on the headstones, we walked the beaches where so many lost their lives and asked ourselves why this was allowed to happen a second time. Once again I treasure the memories of this trip and it solidified once again the importance to never forget. My great grandad Percy was in the navy and served through both world wars. He should of died numerous times but each time his boat was torpedoed he was on leave or had just been transferred. We have many of the letters he wrote to my nan and she says he often struggled with the fact that he lived as his friends and comrades died. I don't want to forget what he and millions of others went through for us.
Today I started something which I hope will become tradition and help me to teach my daughter the importance of the history that is part of her heritage. We went downtown to the war memorial to pay tribute to those who have given their lives for our freedom. We applauded them and to my pleasure sung the two national anthems that are part of our family. Paige was so good in the cold as the flakes of snow started to fall. She didn't flinch at the 21 gun salute and was smiling at all the people around us and was drawing smiles from them too. It was a wonderful morning, one which I hope to repeat next year.
We will never forget.