Finally

After a couple years at this so called war, someone that I am familiar with has been killed. This is a true example of how small a world this is. When I found out I was moving to Rochester in November of 2003, my first thought was...I don't know anyone there. Heather shared the good news of me getting the job with the teacher's at Broadwater Elementary School. Karen, the school secretary, said she had family her and sent me the name of her niece. i only had three weeks before I headed cross country but during that time I sent Tonya emails back and forth. Once I made it here, I hadn't even been in Rochester for 24 hours when she came by, picked me up and showed me around town. We met for lunch or coffee several times during my first few months here. Over time, we didn't do much else together, she being a few years younger than I. But in the time that we did hang out, she talked a ton about her brother who was in Iraq in the Military Police. He always kept in touch via email and cell phone whenever he could. They were very close and from what I could tell, he was a pretty good guy.

On Holy Thursday, I got home from Mass and switched on the 10 pm news. I was only half watching but they mentioned that a local family had just learned of the death of their son. I looked up and their was Tonya with a picture of she and her mom with her brother. From there, I emailed Heather, who was in China but said she would have email. I wanted to email Karen but also didn't know if she knew yet and I didn't want to be the first to mention it. Heather emailed me back, just as upset as I was. Her third grade class had sent Travis packages and letters.

So, here we are still in Iraq, AFTER elections, still with soldiers dying every day. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm as patriotic as the next and I have been praying for the troops since day one of all of this. I still get chocked up at the National Anthem, I cry when they show military funerals on CNN. But, I still don't know if I can honestly say I support the decisions that have occurred that have resulted in our troops still being there. On days like this, as I broke into tears, hugging Travis' sister, that doubt is even greater. Funny, considering today's church readings are the gospel about Doubting Thomas.

I will continue to support every single troop that is over there, praying for their safety and their family but I will continue to strongly feel the need for our soldiers to be home. God Bless them all!