Life is incredibly fragile. I read a quote once by Marcel Proust:
We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance.
Death has a way of sneaking up on you and the death of someone we know reminds us that we're still alive. It forces us to examine our own lives and question the purpose of our existence. Life is tragic, precisely becasue it always results in death. An untimely death tends to magnify those feelings. A friend and colleague of mine returned home yesterday to find her husband dead. He chose the hour of his death. Life was apparently burdensome and painful for him and he made the choice to persue release. Life is fragile.
I'm constantly reminded of the many blessings in my life and the love that surrounds Seth and Eli and my entire family. To my Friend and Colleague....May the lamp of love burn brightly during the time of your need.

The 3-116th Infantry Headquarters Company out of Staunton returns today from Baghdad. Welcome home! Soon we will be celebrating the ruturn of your fellow soldiers - our sons and commrades!