Rowana
January 10th, 2006, 11:49 PM
I just got the news tonight, and I swear my heart stopped. We've been planning a reunion of sorts for our 4-H club, and there's one family I have been anticipating hearing from in hopes that they'll all be there. They are a large family, and some of my closest friends from the club. You see, one of the boys in the family went to Afganastan, and another to Iraq, and I haven't heard anything, so I was hoping they'd be home. It's been three or four years, after all, and I was really looking forward to seeing them and getting back in touch. They called tonight, my mother told me, and they won't be coming to the party. One is coming home on Friday. He was wounded in Iraq. He was always quiet, so I was never very close with him. His cousin (the young man in Afganastan) was a closer friend to me, but I always wanted to think of him as a friend as well, and I always did, just from a far. Now, I'm not a crier, but I have to admit, this has me struggeling to fight it back. I don't know the details yet, just that he's looking at two years of physical therapy, which doesn't sound good to me. The fact that he was there in the first place upset me, knowing what he'd have to see, and what could happen. The picture I have of him in my mind is one of a laughing, smiling face. A strong individual, but more quiet than his cousins. How much has this changed him? I'm afraid to find out. I know, without a doubt in my heart, that he has the strength he needs, but it scares me just the same.
My request is for not only him, but for everyone who is over there fighting, or coming home wounded, or passing to the next life. A request for strength for my friend, his family, and all those other soldiers, their friends, and their families. I would also like to make a request, now this is a big one, for hope for the end of this maddness. The day it started was a day too many. So, for my friend and all those others out there, I give my energy toward a hope for much needed peace.
My request is for not only him, but for everyone who is over there fighting, or coming home wounded, or passing to the next life. A request for strength for my friend, his family, and all those other soldiers, their friends, and their families. I would also like to make a request, now this is a big one, for hope for the end of this maddness. The day it started was a day too many. So, for my friend and all those others out there, I give my energy toward a hope for much needed peace.