Unknown userMember
Civil War
Dear All
I have a long to do list today, and catching up from the other days, but I want to pause this morning to remember. 25 years ago civil war entered my little world. While I was living in a safe little country, my family was dragged into a messy civil war (aren't they all) and 25 years ago, the reality finally hit me. I was a teenager, I thought we were bullet proof, literally. My uncle got killed in combat. The war had been raging in the region where my family lived for about 3 months by then and we had multiple deaths of relatives before that, but it took my uncle's death for me to finally understand that my ignorance to protect my little internal world , did not mean we were bullet proof. For me it was the beginning of a very long episode in my life where I was constantly worried about my family, where I never had time to grieve, where my perspective of life shifted forever.
I have deep wounds from those years and the fear continues. It is not like a car crash, that has a beginning and an end. My family lost many family members and also their homes and they have been relocated temporarily or permanently all over the world. Many have returned home after peace treaties and de-mining operations were completed. Peace keeping troups were there for many years. Yet even 25 years later, you can see the scars in the landscape and the scars in the people will never fade.
What I have learnt from this experience is that we do not choose where we are born. We live in a peaceful country, and they aren't many countries like the one we live in. Although I have times when I am extremly confused in my head, I have learnt to be grateful for what I have.
