They were brash and bold. Jostling each other and just taking up ...space. Not space on the airplane, there was that. But, they were alive and full of themselves and larger than life. Boys, really. The back of their heads looked delicate. So...tender and vulnerable. So, fragile. Shaved for duty. They were on their way to Iraq. These boys, so very young with a date on their driver's license that makes them a man. Ready. To go.
I wanted to tell them to wait. To look around. To see all the moments and savor them. And maybe the high fives and knuckle to knuckle jabs were just that. I wondered about their mothers. Who are they? And aren't we all their mothers? All of us? How are they coping knowing that their precious child is headed for Iraq and might not come back? Ever.
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