RIP
Today it would be difficult not to be aware of the three letters of my title.
Many will focus on Remembrance Services for those who gave their lives for the service of their Country and fellow man, in every conflict since the Great War. Having married and lived with a Veteran of WW11(Burma Star) and knowing how he quietly and stoically carried his injuries for longer than the 51 years that I was when he died, I thank God for his courage, his caring and his love. My mind and thoughts are always with those whose lives are torn, but not ended in Conflict. The injured certainly, but also the wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, children, siblings an even on occasions the grandparents, faced with a gaping wound of emptiness. May they find find acceptance, peace and once again hear the birds sing!
I also know a few people for whom 11th November marks the anniversary of of the death of a loved one. They also will be in my thoughts at this time.
Our lives on this earth are but a speck of sand in the great scheme of things; and in that time many people pass into and out of our life’s journey. Some are with us for a very long time yet leave a very light foot print, while others stop only briefly, forgeing a very deep impression never to be forgotten.
Without them the tapestry of life would be dull.
Judy Harper said,
November 8, 2009 at 12:47 pm
What a beautiful tribute. As an Air Force Veteran who was stationed at Okinawa during Viet Nam, I saw the wounded as they came back and passed through to the States. I met men from Australia, South Korea and the US, who, though not a popular war, felt they had contributed to the safety of the world. Thanks!
Nick said,
November 8, 2009 at 1:51 pm
You must also give thanks that he survived the war and didn’t die in combat. My mother’s brother Stanley flew Spitfires during the war and one day he simply didn’t return home. My mother never found out what happened to him, he was just presumed missing in action.
Very true that some people enter our lives only briefly but leave a vivid impression for many years because of their vitality and uniqueness.
gaelikaa said,
November 8, 2009 at 2:35 pm
A sad and solemn post. We may move on in life but we can never forget our loved ones who have left us whatever may have been the reason.
Many young people died as a result of the first and second World Wars, and in countless other conflicts. It is good to remember them.
Gail said,
November 8, 2009 at 5:11 pm
God bless them on ==past and present!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grannymar said,
November 8, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Judy - What a small world. I knew someone who served in Okinawa back then and I also worked alongside several Viet Nam veterans in the early 70’s, when I was at the USAF Hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany.
Nick - I did, and still do, particularly with my recent surgery. Once Jack was repatriated home (by ship!) he had surgery in the UK and then followed 14 months in a very heavy plaster cast from his chest to his ankle, with only two positions - on his back or on his front! Thank God for the advances in modern surgery and medicine.
Gaelikaa - Sometimes it is frightening to see how young some of those boys were in WW1. I did say boys and I mean boys.
Gail - Amen!
Rhyleysgranny said,
November 8, 2009 at 7:52 pm
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Baino said,
November 8, 2009 at 7:57 pm
It’s a shame that rememberance day is not remembered avidly here. Just a few ceremonies at local cenotaphs and that’s about it. You are in my thoughts also.
wisewebwoman said,
November 8, 2009 at 9:00 pm
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
XO
WWW
Grannymar said,
November 9, 2009 at 11:16 am
Rhyleysgranny - We need to remember, but we also need to learn how to respect our fellow man.
Baino - In very very recent years the South of Ireland Government have acknowledged the part played by Irish men in both WW1 & WW11.
WWW - I once drove to France to see Elly was dumbstruck by the the amount of countryside given over to war graves. It suddenly put the numbers of lost lives into perspective.
Lily said,
November 9, 2009 at 10:57 pm
This is a beautifully written post. Thinking of your husband and of you.
As I read it, I also thought of the thirteen people killed last week in Texas. And of the many more injured, some physically, and many who will probably be tormented by their experiences for a long, long time.
As you so eloquently put it , so many unnecessary ‘gaping wounds of emptiness’
Grannymar said,
November 9, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Thank you Lily. The people of Texas need our thoughts at this time.