Oh yes, that's why...

I have been trying to figure out all day why this is such a strange day and I just worked it out. It is not that I was unaware of it, but the significance of it just became clear to me. Today is Remembrance Day, and we remember the dead of WWII and all those who have died in conflicts since that time.

 

This evening there will be a remembrance service at the national monument on The Dam in Amsterdam and our king and queen will lay the first wreath. There will also be two minutes of silence throughout the whole kingdom and after that the national anthem will be played and all the church bells will ring.

 

Is it any wonder that I am in this slightly sad and nostalgic mood? It is bound to creep up on me on a day like today because we must never forget what we lost in our fight for freedom. Tomorrow will be the day to celebrate. That is the day of liberty when we were freed  from oppression. Today is a day of sadness.

 

A day like this does bring back the memories of all the stories my father and mother told me about the war when I was a kid. They both had quite a few exciting and scary things happen to them and their families, but I think there were a few things they did not tell me and I regret not knowing them and can only guess at them.

 

I am ever so grateful that there is the European Union and that there will never be a war here again. It is very good if all of us identify ourselves as Europeans first and I certainly do that. I do not in the first place think of myself as a Dutch person. That is my secondary identity.

 

Today, at the store, I bought milk and drank almost a whole glass of it when I came home. It did not disagree with me, but I liked it less than I remembered liking it. I have been putting it in my coffee and I do like that and now the coffee upsets my stomach less. So I will be using it for that mostly.

 

I bought dried kibbles for Tyke and he seems somewhat happy with them. He has no other choice. They are going to be his main source of food and they were not cheap either. I do treat the animals almost better than I treat myself. The best thing is, that I stayed under my budget and that came as a surprise.

 

I will turn on the television shortly and start following the programming leading up to the memorial service. It is always a very emotional thing and one that unites all of us.  Each year, we become more and more aware of that.