"I'll never wear a poppy! I do not support war!" said a woman after being offered a poppy.
Today, when you are observing a moment of silence for Remembrance Day (or Poppy Day, Armistice Day, or Veterans Day), remember those men and women who fought and died in wars and conflicts around the world.
Remember also that we, all of us, right here, right now, 2008, are part of a long, long thread of human stories, both told and untold but nonetheless intertwined and bound tightly together across time. Remember that we are part of a fabric of humanity that endured, in the last century, the depths of inhumanity and the heights of human selflessness.
We cannot disown the past, this dark part, thinking and saying that it was not our generation or our war. For if any generation fails to remember the past, the past will surely return to plague the future.
In preserving the past, in preserving the stories of those who came before us, by keeping their voices alive and available for the world to hear, whether with our bare hands or with technological wonders, we honor them...and we buy humanity some more time. Maybe.
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