Lest We Forget

Sometimes working from home means that I live in a bubble.

I've been having a bad week. Nothing seems to be getting me out of this rut, no matter how hard I try I feel like I'm making any progress in my goals. It's certainly hard to keep motivated.

But then I was reminded that day is Rememberence Day, and I felt more than a bit humbled.

I live in a peaceful country, that is home to over 180 nationalities. I have a roof over my head, food on my table, an amazingly supportive husband, and loving family and friends. Times get hard, but I still consider myself lucky.

The last time I was reminded of this was when my husband and I went to Russia earlier this year. We went to Volgograd, better known by it's old name of Stalingrad. The whole town was destroyed by the Germans in WWII, and those that survived lived in holes in the ground during the battle, as all buildings were bombed.

Coming from a country that, whilst having gone to war, has never really experienced it on it's own turf, this was incredibly confronting. My grandfather fought in WWII and survived to tell the tale. My ex boyfriend's grandfather also fought in the war and spent a substantial time in a Japanese POW camp. His stories seemed amazing and yet at the same time hard to truly relate to.

When we visited Mamayev Kurgan, a field in Volgograd which has now been turned into a sculpture park and war memorial, it finally started to sink in, and made my heart ache.

Every Russian town has an Eternal Flame, ever burning for those who lost their lives in the war. It's a beautiful thing to me, and this one in particular made me cry, when lined up with the statue I posted at the top, of a mother holding her dead soldier son.

I am no advocate of war, as I'm sure most of us are. But I have nothing but respect and sadness for those who have fought before us. Sadness that they had to fight at all.

Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them
Lest We Forget