Sentimental thoughts at christmas time

Today I went to visit my parents. It's a 10 minute's walk from work. On the way I pass the largest cemetery in town. In one part there are graves for casualties from WW2. I decided to stop for a while there, to pay my respect, although I know none of the people buried there. One particular grave caught my attention: An unknown australian pilot. Buried in an unnamed grave almost as far as he could get from his homeland.

I spent some time mourning him. A bit sentimental, yes and he's far beyond caring of course. But it made sense to me. And it made me once again remember the important things besides games, besides economy crises and besides politics.

A useless piece of information from Pibbur.

I had a similar experience going to Normandy. I was very humbled by the the rows of graves with only an inscription of "A soldier known only to God."

Cemeteries are good places to reflect on life, and the older the graves, the more effective. When I traveled through New England years ago I saw graves of soldiers from the Civil War (1864) and earlier. You stand there and look at a weathered stone with a blurred name, two dates and a short sentence fragment that somehow sums up someone's whole existence....gives you a strange feeling of connection to all those who came before you were born, and who changed the world you live in, and those who will follow after you in the same cycle.