Lest we forget...

Today is Remembrance day (Veteran's day in the US).

I have always taken a moment to mark Remembrance day. This comes primarily as a result of growing up in a military family, but also because my grandfather fought in World war II. I typically attended Remembrance day ceremonies with my parents, and of course it was a day of reflection on what so many sacrificed in war for us.

However, regardless of your feelings about war and military, I hope you will take a moment today to reflect on the many sacrifices our parents, grandparents and many more before them have made to give us the lives we have today. The world is as it is today because of those decisions and efforts, and it's really not such a bad place. We also have a long way to go and that is our responsibility now.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

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.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army