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Always Remember; Never Forget

Always Remember.

Never Forget.

They say it so many times. So many different ways.

Remember the Alamo! Remember the Maine!

Pearl Harbor has melded into our hearts.

9/11 was imprinted on our souls.

Is it an event, a place, a memory?

Should we hold onto the pain, the sadness, the tragedy?

Is there salvation in loss, healing in agony?

Faces, names. I don’t even know them all.

What would they want me to remember?

The last seconds of life? The moment of death?

Burning embers of destruction.

That can’t be the truth. It’s not reality.

The meaning of such a phrase.

They say move on. Let it go. Don’t look back.

But never forget.

You can’t afford to repeat the past.

Because the meaning builds on the future.

The aftermath of embers is life. There is healing in pain.

There is hope in destruction.

Every life lived and lost is worth a better future.

We build that future. We become that hope.

Goodness. Unity. Strength. Love.

Death means something if only we learn.

Good souls lost are found in our goals.

We build on the past to strengthen the future.

We cling to the good to salve the wounds.

To see the potential in the face of our failures.

There is no failure in change. No defeat in hope.

Victory lives on in the strength of humanity.

It lives in the strength of our souls.

A united front. In God we trust. Patriotism from love.

We promise to learn. We promise to live.

Always remember.

Never Forget. 

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