Just one battle

 Memorial day is coming up. It is a day to remember all those that lost their lives in the defense of freedom. Yes, Memorial day is for the dead. It is something I remind people of each year. The true meaning seems to be getting lost and replaced by a holiday. It was never intended as a holiday, but rather as a reembrace. A day devoted to the memory of those we loved. It wasn't a day of celebration. But like a lot of things over the years sensibilities change and so does the attitude of the people. Consider this; there was a time when people wore black, the music would be a dirge, accompanied by lamentation. Today some call a funeral a celebration, whatever genre of music the deceased enjoyed may be playing, and people are downright jovial! The occasion is the same, the observance is not. A different point of view? Yes, you could say that. 

 I've heard some talk of erecting some sort of memorial for those that have lost their lives to the COVID-19 virus. A memorial to Nurses, Doctors, Janitors and anyone else associated with the health care field! A memorial to all the hero's! Of course , it would mention those that actually died as well, at least a number would be shown to represent that. I couldn't help but think how not too long ago memorials were being taken down that offended some people. The individuals or events no longer worthy of being memorialized. But now, for a virus, we should erect a memorial? A sort of " neutral " memorialization? We are not glorifying the virus, but remembering the dead. A celebration of the efforts of the fallen? We do hear this being called a war.  A war against an invisible enemy. It does sound scary, doesn't it? I don't know I find a bit of incongruity in tearing down actual war memorials and erecting memorials to remember a virus. Yes, people are victims of that virus, killed by an invisible enemy, well except we see the microscopic image of that enemy every day on the news.  You know real people also died in those wars, even the ones you find offensive. Yes it may have been 155 years ago but they were still real people. What if we erect a memorial to all the hero's of this war. In the years to come we discover these hero's were using the wrong treatment, the wrong therapy, or drugs? Through no fault of their own and with the best on intentions they contributed to the death toll, do we then tear down the memorials? We dismiss the dead? We just forget about that? 

 I just question the reasoning behind erecting a memorial in response to a pandemic. A search of the world will yield few memorials to any pandemics. Yes there are a few to the 1918 Spanish Flu. Those memorials are to remember the dead. A sort of national tombstone. But for the most part the thinking has always been to move on. 

 The strange thing about memorials is that they are erected for the living. They are erected to ease the grief or loss, in short, to make us feel better about ourselves. I think the objective is a transference. We hope to move our grief to the memorial. That is also the reason memorials can turn into celebrations. We have forgotten the grief caused by the event and can celebrate the fact we are alive. We are survivors! That is what I hear every day, all day lately. I'm a survivor. Doesn't matter if I was engaged in a major conflict, or went to the Walmart, I'm a survivor. Let's celebrate. 

 Are memorials a necessity? Yes I'd say they are, man has erected memorials since ancient times. The meaning, the sentiment will change over time. Memorials will be erected and torn down. Should we erect a memorial in response to this pandemic? I see no purpose in that. The individuals that lost their lives to this virus will certainly be remembered by those that knew and loved them. You may ask, what of the health care workers and others that lost their lives? I say, they lost their lives doing their jobs and are as much a hero as anyone that went to war. They fought for a greater cause assuming the risk just as a soldier who enters the battlefield. Their cause was to ease the suffering, to provide comfort and reassurance, to do their very best to preserve life. If a memorial is to be erected, memorialize that., not a virus! This virus is only one battle, not a war.