Thoughts of Family on the 80th Anniversary of VE Day

Cautionary note. Included links refer to Covid 19 and familial loss.

Thankful for Family

I always think of my mum on the days when the end of WWII is remembered. And of my later father and late parents-in-law, all of the same generation with experiences they never discussed. With us naively thinking we could possibly understand, as we sat in our warm, safe living room.

Memories Seen and Not Heard

Perhaps that is where the ‘stiff upper lip’ came into play. Banishing the memories to archives, rarely to see the light of day until much later in life. But even then only in miniscule amounts, with such incredible modesty. It must have been too vast to comprehend it all, to store it all in the memory, and ‘easier‘ to consign the experiences to a space not to be revisited or rarely. And to just get on and live.

The Lives of Children

As a child my mum lived through years of dashing to the Anderson shelter (which was pitch dark, damp, with spiders, and no loo), years of austerity, years of sirens and doodlebubs – with the worst bit being when they went silent, knowing they would hit – but where?

Years of just getting on with it, with their school bombed and relatives houses bombed. Years of make do and mend. No sweet treats, just an apple scrumped or a carrot rubbed clean on a brick wall. With her mum, my grandmother, making bed sheets from parachute material.

St Paul's Cathedral at dusk with greenery. — St Paul’s Cathedral

With my mum still refusing to be evacuated from just a couple of miles East of London. She has that steely stern resolve, has never lost it. Our late Dad’s experience was different, difficult and tragic, in the west country. It impacted him from a very young age for his whole life. How my parents met by chance some years later, was influenced by the war

Wisdom

Not a person to mince words, mum always says – ‘it was meant to be the war to end all wars, but it didn’t‘. With her often having argued with our senior school that more should have been taught about it, rather than only focusing on the Stone Age, Henry VIII and Hieroglyphics. She was and is so right.

Hoping for Peace

From The Service of Thanksgiving
to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day at Westminster Abbey today.

Front Cover of The Order of Service of Thanksgiving to mark the 80th Anniversary of VE Day held at Westminster Abbey

Rededication to Peace
Will you work for peace and reconciliation in your homes and communities,
and strive to promote peace and goodwill in the world?
We will.
Will you commit to an honest remembrance of the cost of war and resist all forms
of evil, hatred, and injustice?
We will.
Will you recognise that the freedoms and responsibilities you have were hard won,
and exercise them with gratitude, generosity, and humility?
We will.
On this eightieth anniversary of VE Day, let us dedicate ourselves anew to one
another and to the cause of peace, justice, and liberty as people of faith, hope, and
love.

The Legacy

I feel so very fortunate to be a child of my mum’s generation. Very fortunate indeed. To experience that mindset. And have the greatest respect for them and all they have carried for decades. I try to make a mental note, each time she tells a little more. (I am sadly rarely able to visit her due to my having MEcfs.) I felt led to share here today, to celebrate her (and her generation), and will endeavour to continue to discover more each time we speak.

Love you mum, and dad. Proud to be your daughter.💖 Proud also to have been the daughter-in-law to my late in-laws.

John 1:5 NIV ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’🙏✝️

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have a blessed day⚘