Much as I wish we could always avoid the something ugly, when something beautiful or good comes out of a situation, then I feel almost a sense of relief that this has happened. Given it is so often not possible to stop the ugliness happening at all, I guess I want some form of redemption to come out of it. Something positive to blunt the edges perhaps. Something that helps others express their grief and proves to be therapeutic or comforting (or indeed both).
Turning to our stories, what important events do your characters remember and why? What are the major historical stories for the world in which you've set your stories? How do these impact on your characters now (they are bound to do so to some extent)? If writing about war or its impact, how did that war happen? Could it have been avoided? What fallout from it still hits your story world?
Since we remember (everything from Armistice Day/Veterans' Day to personal important events), getting your characters to remember gives us a useful way of being able to identify with them. And a reader that identifies with characters will want to read more about them.