"This Will Kill You"

That is what Erik wrote when he sent me this photo. Perhaps bad humor... perhaps a reminder that nothing in life is certain... I worry about my mom and my 2 sisters (cancer and severe, progressive MS) dying... but yet, any one of us could be hit by a bus tomorrow. I guess it just means we should all, "live like we were dying."

My mom had surgery yesterday. We did call her last night. She is taking pain meds so she is tired and kind of out of it. They took out a lump the size of a walnut. She was scared that it was so large. Madison and I will be driving to go to her next appt with her when she will be told her options. That is one week from yesterday.



My brother returned from spending 4 days with my nephew (pictured) in Kansas. He got a 4 day leave before they deploy to Iraq now (he has been gone in Kansas for training since August). We don't expect to hear from him again for 6-8 weeks for security reasons. My brother sent me an email today. He wrote:

we really enjoyed our time with Erik. Pretty hard to leave Monday nite not knowing for sure when we'll see him again. He is doing really well according to his platoon seargent & squad leader (both ex-marines). He has a good attitude, is training and learning very well, and has emerged as an example and leader and a solid soldier among non NCOs in his company. - Sniped - I do have a lot of confidence in him-I guess it all really comes down what your upbringing was like. I hope and pray that I did enough of the right things while raising him! I am extremely proud of him and his dedication, loyalty, and sense of patriotism. We see too many young people now a days that don't have a clue what it really takes to maintain our freedom. A lot of them just display the "entitlement" attitude. Enough of my rambling on.... We will be praying for Erik every day, and I would ask all of you to do the same! I feel a big piece of me is missing now, and I won't be whole again until my son returns WHOLE!

Erik is with the "Trailblazers" out of North Dakota. The Trailblazers are so respected over in Iraq that other troops of all branches stand and salute when the Trailblazers pass by. One of our local ER doctors (who served in Iraq) wrote about that in the newspaper. He said that the Trailblazers are saving lives everyday because their job is to go ahead of other troops and search out land mines and bombs. They protect the rest of our military from those hazards. And they put their own lives at great risk.

From the Defend America website:


Staff Sgt. Tom Caldwell maintains security by a convoy on a road near Baqubah, Iraq, on Sept. 24, 2004. Caldwell is assigned to the Army National Guard's Company C, 141st Engineer Battalion, attached to the 1st Infantry Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team. Known as the "Trailblazers," the engineers' job is to search for Improvised Explosive Devices in the Baqubah area. U.S. Army photo by Spc. James B. Smith Jr.

Please keep my nephew, my mom, and my 2 sisters in your prayers if you have room for them. Our family is going through so much right now. I pray that everyone survives (cancer etc) and we all become stronger and better people for what we have gone through.