ON Dec. 26, 2004, the world witnessed what has become known as the Boxing Day or Indian Ocean Tsunami, a natural disaster of such appalling magnitude that even now, two decades later, it boggles the imagination. We feel it is appropriate to take a moment from our holiday festivities to remember the tragedy and its thousands of victims, not only for their sake but, in a sense, also our own.

For those of us who remember the event as it unfolded, it seems somewhat incredible that an entire generation has been born and reached adulthood after it happened, so vivid is the memory of it. It is one thing to learn of such a horrible historic event from reading or hearing the stories of those who were caught up in it, but it is quite another to witness it in real-time.