I remember

This bridge is a memorial to fallen soldiers. It has been left standing but with a million dollars worth of damage.

while I was looking at it, I started to think about what I can remember.

I remember when the city centre didn't have wire fences around it,
when a crane on the sky line meant something was being built, not that something is being torn down,
when we had shops with historic stone frontages, and not shops in shipping containers,
when there were people everywhere, and the streets didn't look post apocalypse,
when there were tourists looking at the "English" architecture or Christchurch and not at the wreckage of a city,
when you are constantly aware of where you are standing and where would be a safe place to run to,
where there is always an "edge" to being there
where there are constant memories of the 182 people who died there.

I hope that one day in the future, while we will always remember, there will be a city centre again, and it will be vibrant and safe. And I hope that I live long enough to see it.