Deep Remembrance
Remembrance Day always reminds me of how much history we lose with every passing generation. And it's a huge loss. History isn't simply a series of dates and facts, its 'story' --look 'story' baked right into the word.
Imagine a family for which every passing generation scrap books all the life events of its members, even the mundane. It's to the point where the children have a real sense what it was like to be a knight, or nobility, or have the plague, or be gunned down in battle. By 18, you will have loved and lost and failed and succeeded. How would we see life differently from the looking glass of our ancestors?
I can try to reimagine what it would be like to huddle in the cramped quarters of my grandfather's tank. To feel the convulsions of steel as each shell fired. To check off the men I'd killed. Men like me. But I'd miss the finer nuances. The smell. Maybe the taste of it. Surely the horror of it.
It's good to remember, right? How else will we ever stop repeating ourselves?
Imagine a family for which every passing generation scrap books all the life events of its members, even the mundane. It's to the point where the children have a real sense what it was like to be a knight, or nobility, or have the plague, or be gunned down in battle. By 18, you will have loved and lost and failed and succeeded. How would we see life differently from the looking glass of our ancestors?
I can try to reimagine what it would be like to huddle in the cramped quarters of my grandfather's tank. To feel the convulsions of steel as each shell fired. To check off the men I'd killed. Men like me. But I'd miss the finer nuances. The smell. Maybe the taste of it. Surely the horror of it.
It's good to remember, right? How else will we ever stop repeating ourselves?
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