If i die in a combat zone
Box me up and ship me home
If i die and still come home
Lay me where the rose is sown
Where the Rose Is Sown~Big Country
Hey Mom,
If you are reading this, I am coming home one last time. I fought the good fight just like taught me, too. Now, I get to be with Dad. Please don't be sad. You know how much I always wanted to meet him. I feel like I already know him through all the stories you told when I was punk kid. I know I am gonna hear it from him when I see him! If had a dime for every time you said "Your dad would be rolling over in his grave if knew what you've done, Noah!" I'd be rich! Come on you gotta laugh at that, right?
We are headed up to Konengal tomorrow and it getting pretty hot and heavy there now. No telling what's gonna go down but I got this feeling so I want say thanks for all that you've done for me and I love you like no other. Thanks for keeping Dad's memory alive and instilling me the meaning of being a real man is. I know it wasn't easy for you raising all on your own and you sacrificed a lot for me. Sorry that I kept you all night worrying about where I was and when I was gonna be home. Thanks for supporting me when I joined up. I know you had your doubts. I know it was hard cause of Dad but I had to do it. I really have learned a lot from these guys and made some awesome friends. I asked my buddy, Joe,to bring you this letter if I didn't make it. We could BE brothers! Our CO called us the "Bopsy Twins", whatever the hell that means. We had big laugh yesterday when we were gearin up bout how we should all put big huge signs on our coffins sayin "RETURN TO SENDER"! It was funny at the time!
Ok now for the sappy stuff... You are the BESTEST MOM the whole world! I love you with all my heart! I could not have gotten this far in life if it weren't for you. Thanks for playing football with me and takin me to all my practices and games. Thanks for cheering me on(Yeah, I heard ya!!) and bringing the hot cocoa afterwards. Thanks for staying with me all those countless hours in the ER. Thanks for the PS3 and all the COD games! Thanks for cheering me up after Ashleigh dumped me(Man, I loved her). Thanks for letting me take Morgan to the prom in your brand new ride(Man, I love her).Thanks for the care packages( I had to guard them with my life LOL!!!). Never thought I would be so thankful for baby wipes. Thanks for the letters and pictures. Just to name a few of the things that you've done for me.
I want to be buried next to Dad at Fort Snelling. I want red roses, real ones and I want you play Green Day-When September Ends, I always loved that song. It reminded me of Dad. I wrote a letter for Morgan, too. Will stay with her when she reads it? She isn't as strong as you and it would mean the world to me. Let her know that I had to what I had to do. She wasn't very happy with me when I told her I was joining up. She didn't get it. Who knows, maybe she never will. Just be there for her. Hope I am not asking too much...
I love you too much, Mom. Proud to be your son and a soldier
Love, Noah
Erin! You made me cry...
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful. I hope it is fiction because if not, my heart is broken. I cannot imagine the loss of a child - even an adult child. I wish no one ever had to receive such a letter.
Awesome write for BFF 93!
Darlene, my dearheart, you are not alone...
ReplyDeleteI cried my eyes out as I wrote it. I devoted my morning to finishing this blog. I began to listen to Elvis on youtube and then I got side tracked as I sometimes do. Elvis lead to Peggy Lee and then Lesley Gore, so on and so forth. I ended up on one of my favorite bands of the eighties. A Scottish band called Big Country. They were only a one hit wonder in states and I always liked the hit. I started looking at some of their other posts and I came across Where the Rose is Sown. I looked up the lyrics and the idea was born. The letter is fiction as I fashioned it today. I have dealt with death and the military unfortunately. I tend to keep things brief and am not good at poem and prose. So the letter came from the feelings I have had for my own mom, my son, my husband and my brother in law. It was not as easy as I thought it would be. None the less, I am VERY happy with the finished product.
...thanks for your tears for they were well spent.
I'm so glad to hear this is fiction. Sadly, I suspect it is someone's reality...
ReplyDeleteYou have good reason to be happy with the finished product. Any piece that can deliver this much emotion is excellent! I love your writing.
Erin -I hope you'll share this with others through forums for military parents. I'm a soldier & vet - but I'm also a father of kids making choices about what to do with their lives. I know what it would mean to me and their mom to get a letter like this. I encourage you to keep expressing what's on your heart - it will bless others.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I write when I'm able, over at LifeLoveandTruth.com. It helps me, and I hope it can help others, too.
Keep going! :-)
Jeff Courter/Afghan Journal
I'm so glad this is fiction. very good write. I'll admit I was a little worried at first!
ReplyDeleteGood story. Bittersweet.
ReplyDelete