NEVER AGAIN
Today is another day that will form a part of our family's calendar of commemorations and rituals. One that we will struggle to give meaning to our kids. Today is Argentina's national Day of Memory for Truth and Justice, remembering the victims of the 1976-1983 dictatorship.
My partner had to learn when he was far too young that there were some bad people who took loved ones away, and they might never come back. And he had to keep it a secret from all his friends and teachers, while his childhood and his family were forever transformed.
Our kids are still too young to learn about terror, about Argentina's bloody recent history, about the generation that is missing and all its profound and heart-wrenching implications. Thankfully, they do not have to learn these things the way their papa did.
But today, if we were in Buenos Aires, we would go to the Plaza de Mayo with all the other many thousands of people who will say never again and continue to demand both truth and justice. And not just today. We will also talk to them about related struggles, about the meaning of social justice and human rights, and about the super-heroes - people and organizations - who have fought for truth and justice all this time.
We will start to talk to them about memory, and we will continue to talk to them about justice. Eventually, we will share everything with them as an essential part of their history. I'm still not sure how, but it will not just be a one-day-a-year thing.
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