..:Current mood: Contemplative
..:Litsening to: Tori Amos
Yesterday was rememberance day, it's strange to think that a single day could have so much meaning for so many people. For some, it's sitting back and recalling loved ones lost, or looking at people you've known all your life and suddenly seeing all those stories about the war in context. It really happened, they were there, and they saw events that defined the world.
Rememberance day always seemed a bit distant for me, i never really sat back and looked at it till I got to highschool. November 11 was my brothers birthday first and froemost in my mind. Then when I hit highschool I found something absolutely astonishing. I had to do a class on Canadian history, rather boring I thought at the time. But while I was researching for a project I found something that made it all hit me at once. I found my granmothers story in a book. She had a whole page to herself and a picture of her when she couldn't have been more than 25. My granmother was a code cracker in the 2nd world war, my granfather fought in the war. Their stories were actually written down in books, considered a part of history. I began looking at the war memorials and all the stories I heard in class and accounts of the world wars, and piecing them together with the stories that my family told me when i was a kid. These weren't just some quirks of my relatives, like that uncle who exagerates every story at reunions whenever he has a beer, this was real.
So on November 11, I call my brother and wish him a happy birthday, and I sit back and think about a few things. Even though the country recovered from the war, people never have. My grandparents all have this strange smile that surfaces every once in a while. They all have moments of silence for their friends and family, scattered all through their lives, not just for a minute on one specific day in November. So I sit and I remeber my grandparents, the ones still here and the ones already gone.
A little perspective can be a strange thing sometimes.
On a side note: still sick, and have been so for 2 weeks now. It's actually gotten to the point where I can't be on my feet for long periods of time before I start to black out. Blah, I hate being sick. especially in this miserable weather.
Meru at 4:29 AM