Remembering

I don't exactly have the words to describe how I feel today.  The sobriety that comes with Remembrance Day is also mixed with a degree of frustration.  I'm frustrated because I don't fully understand what it means to remember the fallen.  I can remember names and faces and stories but I have never been there.  I've never gotten a letter or a phone call or had to come to terms with the idea that someone I love is leaving and might not come back.  The sadness that I feel when I think about the lives cut short, the immense sacrifice made to provide my freedom, is nothing compared to the friends and family left to wonder What if....? 

So if I haven't lived it what exactly am I remembering?

I remember to live thankfully.  Thankful that I am not only entitled to but guaranteed a certain level of education.  Thankful that my voice means something in Canada.

I also remember that freedom is not free.  Freedom has a cost. Freedom is not cheap or easy or permanent.  The cost of my freedom has been paid by sons and daughters with bright futures and a readiness to change the world.

My freedom is not free.

More than anything else, I remember freedom is not free.