Remember the dead, but don't disregard the living

The time of year has come round again for Remembrance Sunday, so another round of poppies has been distributed. Personally I wonder that it's just becoming a political fashion accessory - that is just as quickly removed from most lapels after the event; I'm occasionally asked when a family anniversary comes around connected with war (not in November), "why are you wearing a poppy?"

Why not?

Remembrance of wars past (and wars still taking place, alas) should be constant in the mind, but the commemoration itself is for the weekend of Remembrance Day. Remember our wars then, and not have them rammed down our throats every day (on the news or in the form of Security messages "for our safety" in shops and stations.)

In all truth, November 11th should permanently be a national holiday of Remembrance, regardless of what day of the week it happens to fall. It would be an appropriate gesture to those who died for freedom, for us to give up one day of our lives for the loss of theirs.

Only then can an entire globe's grief and gratitude be truly assimilated.