JUST REMEMBER ME

Today we visited the National Memorial Arboretum - a memorial to all those men and women who have died in service to their country during wars. The image shows part of the main memorial.

Whilst it is a long time to Remembrance Day, this is a very special and humbling place to visit. The verse below was composed by Jodie Johnson, aged 9 years of age, and is called 50 Years Late. It expresses words far better than I could hope to do - yet sadly the world has not learned !

I am only a child
and it's hard to explain,
The feelings I have,
as I sit in the rain
And I think of the men
who went off to war,
knowing they would not
come home anymore.

I cannot say thank you
to the men left in France,
Who laid down their lives
to give me a chance,
I cannot say thank you
To the ones who returned,
for thank you is not
What those brave men earned.

I owe them my life,
as I live it today,
A life lived in freedom
because of that day.
I owe them much more
than I can ever repay,
I owe them the lives
that they gave up that day.
They will live in my heart
for as long as I live,
And my children will learn
of that gift that they give.