Remember.

I decided that today I'm going to once again step away from Pinterest and talking about something really important. Remembrance Day.

I was on the bus home the other day and I overheard a young girl talking with her mother. They were talking about this coming Monday and how they both have it off work and school. The little girl asked her mother why she didn't have school and her mother said, "It's Remembrance Day, we just get it off." It made me think...

When I was in elementary, middle school I never really understood what it meant. It was a day off. I could sleep in, watch TV, and eat KD and that was great! It never really registered to me why we were getting the day off until later on.

I realized its importance in high school when my French teacher told us we should never just treat it as a day off. "Have some respect," he said, and from then on I did. We wouldn't even have the luxury of another long weekend had those brave men and women not fought for our country and our rights, so we owe them a huge thank you.

Just last week I interviewed an old friend for my Remembrance Day journalism assignment. There again, I got a huge eye opener. He went to Afghanistan for nine months and served in a critical care patrol. He told me he saw things over there that no one should see. Children, men, women, old, and young all hurt and trying to get on with their lives. "War," he said, "it has no boundaries. It affects people even if they don't notice it."

That's a huge thought to process, and a sad one at that. I guess what I'm trying to say is: this remembrance day, pause to think about the real reasons behind having the day off. It's more than an extra day in the weekend, more than a day to sleep in, more than a freebie. This Remembrance Day remember all the people who fought for you and made the life you have today, possible.

Remembrance Day, lest we forget.

M