Mothers and Days of Rememberence

Yesterday was mother's day. Today is the 60th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, VE Day. May 7th was the official surrender, May 8th the surrender was ratified and celebrated. The majority of the world celebrates on May 9th. Yet in Russia, its still the 8th. However, Bush is in Russia hanging out with Putin today. He's watching Goose Stepping soldiers march up and down Red Square with old soviet flags in commemoration of an event that still unforgettable. St. Isaacs Cathedral in St. Petersburg is riddled with bullet holes on one side and a plaque to commemorate the blockade and bravery of those that kept the city from falling. Near this day is Yom Hashoah, the day of Rememberence for the 6 million jews who perished in the "Shoah" (catastrophe) as its known in Hebrew. Horst Koehler, Germany's president declared that "racism and right-wing extremism have no chance in a modern Germany." About a mile away 3,000 neo-nazis pledged their hearts to Rudolph Hess (Hitler's Deputy). Its a confusing time filled with more emotion than any made for TV movie can capture. Everone has a stake in something like this, a piece of collective memory that is ever ripe for harvest. Whatever the distance, historically and physically, from these times and places, sitting on the right of my grandmother yesterday at brunch for her, my other grandmother and my mother, I know the five of us raised a glass to the end of the war that shaped so many lives and fortunes. This much I know personally, it's still here, over a half decade later, there's still memory surrounding this day.