If you've ever had the pleasure...

If you ever have the pleasure of knowing someone amazing...
If you ever have the pleasure of meeting someone remarkable...
Someone who makes you smile, or never fails to make you laugh...
Make sure you let them know.

One year ago today,

I received a phone call from a friend.

She was letting me know, her husband paid the ultimate price for our freedom.

She was so brave, and so strong from the get go.

As the day progressed, 

I learned of two other men from 1/327, Abu, 3rd Plt *BUKA*,

who gave their life.

Word quickly spread of others with life threatening injuries.

I will never forget the fear, and hurt, and anger I felt that day.

I as a point of contact,

had made countless phone calls letting wives know about lives lost in the battalion.

I never imagined I would have to make a phone call,

including the names of men in my husbands platoon.

I never imagined having to speak those words.

It's crazy to think how invincible we make ourselves feel.

We knew death was part of war, but never imagined it would hit so close to home.

Anytime I had to make one of those calls,

It was tragic and terrible....

But to be speaking of men I knew,

Men I'd had in my home for dinner,

Men who's families I had met....

It was something completely different.

All I could think about was the hurt and pain their families would endure...

The emotions my husband must of been dealing with,

And the realities of the war he had been fighting.

The remainder of that deployment,

I thought about three things:

Those three men, Their grieving families, And my husband still out there fighting.

I think it is safe to say my perspective on life changed after that.

It's far to often we take the ones we love for granted.

The people who are always there, no matter what...

The people who we love the most...

We assume they know we love them...

We don't say it enough.

We forget to let them know how much we appreciate them..

Or what they mean to us.

Life is far too short.

Some lives are taken tragically, some heroically,
Some expected, and some so very unexpectedly.

But at the end of the day,

What matters most is....

What you leave behind, in the hearts of the people who love you.

Don't ever take the people you love for granted,
You never know when God will need them!

R.I.P

Nagorski

Snow

&   

Lillard

You are the true definition of hero's,

And you will never be forgotten!