thank you 't'

dear t,

There were undoubtedly a million and a half plus words written in remembrance and in honor and in need today. I didn�t write anything new today. I skipped the river of diversity when it came to writing about the events of September 11, 2001. I thought of quoting from one of those pretty songs that cropped up over the course of the last year. There have been a few that were actually quite nicely produced.

Instead I went to work today. I just wanted to carry on. Ironically without planning it, the bosses decided to call it a day at exactly 11 a.m. It just seemed that we were bothering companies in our attempt to do business. We all agreed that we were uncomfortable and we left early. It was raining here this morning, a rain that was mostly a slow steady drizzling. I looked up at the sky and the thought of �heaven crying� came to mind.

I came home, took a hot bubble bath. Lit some candles. Tried to be self-contemplative. I called a friend wanting to hang out tonight, but they never called me back. Then I made some hot tea, grabbed a book of poetry, (the one you gave me) and I sat and tried to lose myself in words. It worked for a little while. At least I managed to fool myself for a little while. Some days are just days you can�t run away from reality.

All day there�s been this sadness deep. A true sadness because somewhere there�s a baby that will grow up knowing his or her parent died at the hands of terrorism that makes no sense. That one thought is enough to make me sit and cry. But in its place I prayed. For every human being that will truly feel the effects of these events for all their lives. For all those that carry the questions of what might have been were it not for�

My thoughts rambled to you and your steadfast dedication to your job, the military and the country that you serve. Maybe I have no right to these feelings, but I am proud of you. I am proud to know you.

Life can be cruel and evil and leave us wounded by some of its events. I believe we will all be changed by this one. It saddens me that my son knows the horror that hate can create. When I think about last year, I think about all of the loss. When I think about now, I think about how lucky I am to have gained your friendship, our friendship. I am proud to know you, and though I didn�t chose to know you because of the uniform that you wear everyday, I am glad that today I can thank someone real and tangible in my life, someone that I didn�t have or know last year. I truly know that despite all of the loss that surrounds me today, I have gained. I have been blessed and blessed by you.

Thank you for getting up everyday and accepting less than what you could earn, thank you for donning those same clothes every day. Thank you for sleeping night after night on a cot in the heat. Thank you for going without Mexican rice with your meatloaf. ;-) Thank you for where you are, what you are doing, and every breath that you take to serve our country.

Thank you for all of those things but mostly thank you for your friendship. A friend that puts forth everything he has to give every chance that he has to give it. Thank you �for everything. But mostly today�thank you for where you are today.

I love you.
Me