I had a post prepared for today. It was about writer’s presenting their work in public. The dread of moving away from the desk and standing in front of an audience. Make no mistake, this is a legitimate fear.
However, this particular Thursday is the 75thanniversary of D-Day. It doesn’t feel like a day for average dread. It feels like a day to listen to the experiences of a generation who are dying out and who lived through the horror of total war.
As writers, we turn the human experience into stories. We take ideas of love and hope and death and passion and weave them together into experiences that allow readers a chance to understand events in their own lives or put their own experiences into perspective.
The men and women who lived through some of the greatest horrors humanity has known often chose not to speak. On this anniversary of the landing at Normandy, many of the remaining witnesses are sharing their memories. When they speak, we should listen. Because they are trusting us to one day be their voice.
I started my day with this man’s story. He was a teenager when he landed in a French pigsty, covered his parachute in manure and crawled off to start his part of the war.
Find a story today, and listen.