It is unfair and possibly unethical to posthumously attribute words or positions of individuals, particularly if they have not in their own lifetimes published them.

The interesting thing for me is having the rich opportunity of meeting and deliberating at times with many of our past giants in the political and social arena. One thing that keeps popping up is their dreams and intentions versus the reality of what one has been able to accomplish.

One lesson we all eventually learn is that it is difficult at times to control events in our own lives, and how much more challenging it is to control, think or plan for a family, a community, or for that matter a world.

Notwithstanding that, it is precisely the case that persons who entered into politics and social activism, in particular those beginning back in the days of challenging segregation, started with grand hopes of bringing social change for the better.

It pressed me to hear from them if they believed they made progress and were satisfied with what they did and what was accomplished. The feelings and thoughts I uncovered were mixed.

No one is perfect in the understanding of how the world ultimately works or what will be the consequences of policies and practices, which often were borrowed from the experiences of other jurisdictions.

Hence, many of our fallen icons, in spite of intense involvement — even at times being initiators of political parties among a list of items — have expressed second thoughts about whether or not they were the right things for Bermuda.

To hear an old man lament over having some guilt on whether in trying to be conciliatory in working for the broader good, he let his own people down. To share the ignominy of a politician who understands the strength of involvement in the economy and who could taste the value of success but in denial of this while he watches his own community crumble in ruins.

Yet, still, their pride and their dignity followed them to the grave celebrated ... with dreams unfulfilled.

I always wondered why great stories were called tragedies. Possibly it was a nihilist who coined the phrase.

When we look at where we are as a society, with all of its fallen soldiers and persons who have sacrificed so much good for so little reward, it takes work to remain positive.

Yet in spite of that, embracing the struggle and living by our convictions and following dreams connects with an element in nature that feels like the only true blood of life.

To all the fallen soldiers that we have known, there is still the chance their dreams can be realised and for the work that they earnestly tried to achieve, their silver lining is within our scope to further until accomplished.