Home » (Photos) Day of Remembrance Through Acts of Kindness, Hopewell Valley Book Donations

(Photos) Day of Remembrance Through Acts of Kindness, Hopewell Valley Book Donations

by Community Contributor

After such a joyous weekend with weather like spring, it seemed appropriately somber to wake up to drizzle and fog on this day. The Day of Remembrance should be a gloomy one every year, so that we don’t forget. The mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters who lost their loved ones three years ago will never forget. They wake up every single morning with the heaviest of hearts that is inconceivable, unbearable, and so heartbreaking that none of us can forget. How do the families carry on? How do they survive such loss? 

They must, because they are the survivors. The ones that must carry on for the living, and the messengers that must spread the word of strength and the power of survivorship that focuses on change for the better. And because of them, these families, we must all carry on, we must all pay homage to their wishes and their prayers and their sense of making semblance in this world that makes no sense. We must forget the name and forget the evil that caused this day, this December 14th, to be the Day of Remembrance, and solemnly pay our respect by doing a good deed. Or maybe even two. Paying it forward so that others will too. Do something today that is kind for another person, animal, organization, or Mother Earth, so that your heart can mend, so that all our hearts can begin to mend. But our hearts will never fully heal, and we shall never forget. No, never forget.

This morning for the third annual Day of Remembrance, Hopewell Valley delivered a truck load of donated books to an elementary school. The children carried the books into their media center with smiles and the principal told us that Wednesday they will be celebrating Literacy Day and that all would take our donated books home. Hopewell also donated several boxes of baseball cards that will be distributed to all the students and that appeared to be a very well received gift.

And their gift back to us? Their smiles and their words of thank you as we left the school. And as fog tends to do, instead of remaining gloomy, it turned into a thing of beauty casting its shadow. December 14 will always have a pall of a dark shadow cast upon it, as we remember why we must good deeds on this day, but the deeds of giving from the heart shall also be remembered too. #NeverForget

For more information and learn how to help next year, please check out and “like” https://www.facebook.com/hopewellvalleyremembrance/.

Community Contributors: Hopewell Township residents Annie (Saunders) Mingle and Kim Robinson

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