This past weekend the country celebrated and remembered Victory in Europe Day on 8th May 2020. It was a day for remembrance, reflection, and a day for celebration.
As a nation we find ourselves living in unprecedented times with an unexpected opportunity for reflection. Leading up to last Friday I found myself thinking back to my own time as a military reservist and the great pride I felt in being, even in a small way, a part of the armed forces of this Country.
I think back to the time I celebrated the 50th anniversary of VE day in May 1995. Whilst serving as a reservist, I was an official steward at the Veteran’s Centre at the Hyde Park celebration, surrounded by veterans and many men and women in uniform. I was then, and I am still, in awe of their selflessness and bravery. I also celebrated with my parents, both of whom are sadly now no longer with us. They both lived through the Second World War and had distinct memories of the sacrifices many made for the nation.
Although VE day was not the end of the war, it was an opportunity for our nation to take a pause in its collective anxiety. It was an opportunity to celebrate life, to remember those who were lost and to look forward to the future. In many ways I feel we can learn a lesson from those we remembered on Friday. They knew there were hardships still to face, the war was still raging in the Far East and the economic and emotional impact was to be felt for many years to come. But the British people did not lose hope, they kept their fighting spirit and they still proudly sang ‘We’ll Meet Again.’
We find ourselves living through a very different challenge now, but we can still remember and learn from the past. We must maintain our strength in fighting this virus and keep our faith and hope for the future. On Friday, across the constituency we celebrated the heroes of the past from our homes and front gardens, whose sacrifice and bravery deserves our upmost respect. The pictures of Friday that I have been sent from across the constituency are incredibly heart-warming. Households sang along with neighbours and joined together in a toast of remembrance, albeit at a social distance. I, like many others across the country, took the opportunity to pause and think about our current heroes, the NHS staff, army, police, emergency services and others on today’s frontline keeping us going and saving our lives.
