Paying Homage To A Generation Mostly Gone.

 The resilience of the WW2 Generation becomes only now apparent.

We've seen movies, read books and learnt about them at school. The generation who had to endure the second world war. Not just for a few weeks but for six years. My mind still grapples with that. 

All of us the world over are now finally paying attention to what war does. That war hurts, robs, destroys and kills. We see it all day long and don't know how to sort it in our minds. As abstract as it seems, it feels as if it could have been us.

Our grandparents are an unbelievable generation, one that we took for granted, one that we never really took the time to listen and thank them for those long years of horror that was called the second world war. 

It now makes sense that theirs was a generation that didn't waste. In fact they hated waste because they had to make do with almost nothing trying to keep them and their children alive. I remember my grandfather never throwing stale bread or rolls away. No, he only bought fresh bread once the old one was gone. I could never understand and admit that when I stayed with my grandparents for a few months, I used to sneak out to buy fresh bretzen and rolls at the bakery down the street. Now I understand.

This generation rebuilt cities that were totally destroyed. Imagine what strength of character it must have taken to start from scratch, often by picking out the bricks still usable from the rubble. The Trümmerfrauen. This was a generation that didn't believe in debt. Cash only. Buying things only if they had the cash for it. Mending clothes, refurbishing furniture and using bicycles or going by foot. 

Holidays, if they even had any, were taken close to home. None of this incessant flying on budget holidays. In fact, our grandparents' generation could teach us a thing or two about how to tackle climate change, and more importantly, how to be happy with whatever we have, be it little or a lot.

Biggi