By Emily Stonehouse

Lest we forget. A phrase we share around Remembrance Day. Thinking of our past chapters, looking forward with hope.

The act of marching to war in any capacity is something beyond my wildest thoughts. Because of those who fought before us, luckily, I cannot even picture the process.

Watching my kids walk away, not knowing what their future will hold, is something that makes me physically ill. I have trouble saying goodbye to my husband when he leaves for a weekend work conference, let alone a war commitment.

I wonder if the ones who fought in war realized the impact they would have on the future. That their choices, their efforts, prevented the generations beyond them to live in relative stability. Did they make their choices for us, or because it was just the thing to do at that moment? Were their experiences based on their past, their present, or their future?

We will likely never know. As context ripples and sheds the stories of the past, we move into a new era, and with it, a new understanding of the wars before us.

As we sit in this time of post-World Wars, we reflect on not forgetting. We commit to those stories, facing forward with a belief that the same mistakes will not be tripped over once again.

But we have done worse, since those wars. We would be remiss in not acknowledging the tirade of bullying taking place in the United States; their feral leader spitting and clawing in spaces of power. An effort made to solidify his place on a world stage, but only casting a tainted light onto their presence; a whispered reminder of who they once were.

Those men and women who marched off before us did not do that with this form of leadership in mind. I believe most would never be able to fathom the atrocities that spew from his mouth.

I will never know for sure, but I hope, in my heart of hearts, they chose their sacrifices for peace, for unity, for pride, for stability. They did it because they believed it was the right thing to do, to put others above themselves, to fall in the name of tomorrow.

Now I do not believe war solves our problems. I do not think it to be a be all and end all solution. I think war is a step taken when action is taken before grace, when guns are chosen over words. A last resort, an admission of uncertainty.

But that is not at the fault of those who chose to fight; a different era, when communications were limited and propagandistic musings were a primary news source.

It wasn’t the everyday people who were engaged in those conversations. As always, it was people bigger than us in presence but not in stature, who sit at tables and make decisions on our behalf, their fingers staying clean of dirt.

Lest we forget.

But we seem to have forgotten. That disagreements lead to death, that grudges end in grief. Mistakes were made, choices were solidified, priorities were shown.

And as a result, the bloodlines of our community changed. Men and women from small towns walked away from their mothers, and were never seen again.

So lest we forget. Our past is dark, our present still shadowed. Is there a light for the future? One can only hope.

Because when we forget the past, nothing is bright.