Magic 10 W1 R3 commemorative run ...

[frenchvisitor]

My warm up walk this morning took me past the War Monument here in my adoptive village in France and set my thoughts going.

In the north of France the last four years have seen commemorative ceremonies in each and every town and village for each and every battle fought in World War 1. I thought of my French born grand-daughters who proudly placed poppies on the graves of the Australian soldiers buried in their village cemetery on Anzac Day this year in the presence of Australian visitors. I thought back to our holiday last week in Arundel where we were deeply moved by the visual representation of the town's young men killed during the war in both the parish church and the Cathedral - it really brought it home how many young lives were lost.

I thought of my Scottish Great Uncle who lost his life near Arras, of my French husband's grandfathers who survived Verdun and refused to tell their story, so horrendous it was.

I thought of my German-born niece, now a journalist in jet-set Berlin, following Merkel on her visit to France this weekend, and how it would appear that other than the Armistice, there has not been a real dynamic in Germany to commemorate the individual lives lost. But I know that Germany's relationship to the two World Wars is complex.

I didn't think about my running - I just ran ... and ran.

I did notice my playlist on two occasions : Dying in the Sun, and Sarajevo - pure coincidence - but that did get me thinking - if only "lest we forget" were really taken to heart.

At least all these lives lost have enabled us three generations later to be able to run free with the wind and the rain - and our thoughts.

I thought my run would be slower than usual I was so caught up in my thoughts - but my pace was actually faster than the average for my intervals for the 2.5K this week!

Looking forward to less contemplative runs for W2 - onwards and upwards.

Happy running folks!

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate10]

Fabulous thoughts for today. 💗

Working on Remembrance Sunday is always a tough one for me. So many do not observe the silence; some through ignorance, being from different countries they often know nothing of the importance to us, some through a thought that work must come first, others just are not bothered which I find hardest of all to stomach. 👎😕

I have explained the significance of the poppy on my truck every year to many foreign drivers passionately. Many mistakenly think it is a talisman for luck. One Spanish driver listened intently nodding his head and then told me of his family members lost to war and asked me if I thought it would be OK if he were to display one himself. I assured him that it would be more than OK (my Spanish wasn't good enough to get into the Legion charity side) that everyone, everywhere should be able to show their thanks and remembrance of the fallen. We owe so much. 💕

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

Thankyou for sharing, that’s all so moving and thought provoking. On a run it’s a good place to pause and remember......

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

A beautiful international reflection.

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

A lovely post Frenchvisitor. This year has been especially significant and I am pleased that numbers attending the remembrance service in Portsmouth today were greater than we have ever known.