The last post

We were in the Brookwood Military Cemetery when an American aide said there was a ceremony taking place at 3pm when the last post would be played. We went over to join in and found ourselves part of a large gathering involving a padre and representatives of the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women.

It was very moving, although I am not religious in any sense. It was thoughtful and poignant to be remembering those lost in war on a beautiful late summer’s day, and the whole thing had elements of English and Hebrew in it. The tone was very much about honouring the dead by doing the right thing, which I liked; I’m sure if they could stand before us they would want to know what we had done to make it a better world. The last post was beautifully played and very moving; it always is, as was the two minutes silence that followed.

A descendant of Violet Szabo was there, also the Israeli Ambassador. We stayed and chatted for a while then cycled home.

It has been a lovely weekend. Bizarrely I have been completely fine today, you wouldn’t think there was anything wrong with me. We cycled about 15km; the light was lovely. TSM cooked an excellent Vegan Mac’n’cheese.

And then I remembered I don’t work Mondays any more and had to pinch myself; a big grin appeared on my face at the thought of having another day to my weekend...