Five Years

Author: dolphinkist
Word Count: 377
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Five Years

Remembering my cousin on this dark anniversary.

Critique is welcome (and encouraged)! It just doesn’t feel ... well, it doesn’t fell like I did the piece (or maybe my cousin) justice.

Thank you to all who have, do, and will serve.

Five Years belongs to the following groups:

All Out Emotion, Deep Within, United States and War

Five years ten days ago
you were on your way home from war when your Chinook Helicopter was shot down.

Five years nine days ago
I received the news with an innocently answered phone call in the middle of the produce aisle.

Five years eight days ago
your picture and story were plastered on the TV and newspapers as the first soldier killed from our state in the Iraq war.

Five years six days ago
we traveled in stunned sorrow to meet with family and await your arrival home, still answering calls for interviews… How do you feel?

Five years four days ago
your family, the color guard, and funeral officers met your flag-draped casket (they said it was you…well, most of you) on the tarmac in the darkest of nights.

Five years three days ago
we viewed your casket with your Calvary hat and favorite sports caps arranged on top…no one was allowed to see inside.

Five years two days ago
that small mortuary was so full of mourners that some had to stand outside.
We released yellow balloons in your honor.
At some time, your Husker hat was placed in the coffin with you (we heard it wasn’t possible to put it on your head but I try not to think about that).

Five years ago today
a small little town packed a church for your “home town” funeral.
The town’s flags were at half-mast.
Young children playing along the street stopped as the hearse drove by and saluted the entire procession.
I jumped at each round of the salute.
A chill went through me when the single trumpet played “Taps.”
We buried you beside your grandfather.

Five years ago
I met your friends and fellow soldiers.
They told me of the man you became and of the respect and love they had for you.

Today
I will no longer grieve or dwell (well, at least I’ll try).
But I will always remember that gawky “kid” that grew up to be a soldier.

Today
I took off the remembrance band I’ve been constantly wearing for all of these years in your honor:

SSG DANIEL A BADER
1/3 ACR ADA BATTERY
USA 02 NOV 03 IRAQ

pixie3

WOW!!!! That was very deep :)
pixie3

Oh btw very well written!!
dolphinkist replied

Thanks so much, pixie3!
I wrote it late last night (when I took off the wristband…I feel naked today) and I wasn’t even sure I should post it.
ufosIsee

Being a VET myself this is trully heart felt…. I salute him and you. Well written.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you, ufosIsee. I am glad that, as a vet, you found this important. The words I used just don’t seem to do justice for Dan or for any of our vets.
Thanks for your service.
sleepyeyedrar

My heart weeps for you and this family that has lost due to war. I stand erect and salute your son, for the sacrifice of his life for another. I too lost a son, not due to war and I know how difficult it is to lose a child. I find comfort in a website I will bmail it to you….
dolphinkist replied

sleepyeyedrar, thank you for the website (and it’s okay…I should have put “cousin” somwhere in the writing itself, but I guess the relation doesn’t matter).
I am sorry for the losses you have endured and am glad you have found that outlet.
Craig Forhan

I still have goose bumps from reading this. I’m a vet too and this just hits home. I hope you and your family will be able to mend what you can and make the best out of his sacrifice. Thank you for posting this, I know writing is something that shows the soul more than any other piece of art.

1/3 ACR used to be and I believe still is stationed at Ft Carson Colorado, my birthplace and current hometown.
dolphinkist replied

Craig: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I feel this piece is so unemotional because it doesn’t compare to what I feel and I was afraid it wasn’t worthy of the sacrifices made by our troops. The fact that it had some sort of impact on you makes me feel so much better…for people like you and for Dan.

And, yes, 1/3 ACR is still in Ft. Carson. My cousin was originally from Nebraska (where I still lived), but moved to Colorado Springs while still in school. He always wanted to be in the military.

Thanks for your service, too!
Mardra

Well done Kelly. This is a worthy memorial. I cry with you as I read it.
“Write hard about what hurts” – eh? Hemmingway was right afterall – you have done justice to what is felt, what is written, and what is real. I can’t say enough, well deserved feature and the exposure does justice to all of those who have felt what you feel. Much, much Love, Mardra
dolphinkist replied

Mardra…you made me cry back (reminded me of the Husker game we went to when they honored the fallen).
Your support and the beautiful things you have said are…well, more important than you’ll ever know.
Tricia Holmes

What a beautifully written prose poem. WOW! so much pathos and I can feel your loss, but also that after 5 years, you are ready to stop grieving and remember who he was…the son in your home.
Beautiful…please keep writing.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you, Tricia. I hadn’t written in so long and my first attempt on another project the other night was SO bad that I’m surprised I even attempted this. I couldn’t let the five-year anniversary or the removal of my bracelet go by without something to mark it.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Tricia Holmes

oops so sorry…your cousin…
grarbaleg

From my family to yours we send u an abundance of everything that has been scarce for five years and 10 days may serenity settle in your heart and the light of your cousin bath you in the glory of whom he was so emotive thank you for sharing
dolphinkist replied

grarbaleg, thank you so much for your beautifully written condolences. I have always been surprised by how intensely this has affected me.
StefanNicholson

Changed by war, lost in distance, missed forever . . . but captured and preserved for us all to appreciate. A truly fine piece of writing.
dolphinkist replied

Stefan, thank you! I am so glad you liked it. And I thank you for the wonderfully written and profound comment! (I need you to write comments on my back cover if I ever write a book!)
mistletoes

This is beautiful, so simply expressed, so poignant, so real.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you, mistletoes. I thought maybe it was lacking since really it’s just “facts” and not emotion that’s written of. I guess from everyone’s comments that the emotion seeps through.
StefanNicholson

I look forward to reading some more of your work. You will write a book . . . very soon I hope ;)
dolphinkist replied

Thank you for the extra encouragement, Stefan! This is my first piece in years so, well…we’ll have to see how it goes on that book!
Cynthia Smith

Very touching. Makes me think how long this war has been going on for.
dolphinkist

I’m glad you found it touching, Cynthia. It didn’t take lonf for 5 years to go by.
Jane Best

This is a beautiful and powerful tribute and remembrance of your cousin. Thanks for writing and posting it. Very thought provoking.
dolphinkist

Thank you, Jane. Your words are beautiful and very complimentary. I’m glad you found it touching.
MONoxide

it’s simple but it’s still beautiful..
there’s definitely feeling!
dolphinkist

Thank you, MONoxide. I’m glad it makes people feel.
silverstrummer...

What a beautiful commemorative way of remembering Daniel. I and many others around the world salute Daniel for the price he had to pay for us to be safe and bring stability into the world.
You can be proud of knowing he gave his life for others and not only that …...... we all know now by what you have wrote! God Bless
Thank you so much for sharing the hurt with us.
My thoughts and best regards go to you and your family and a prayer for Daniel too.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you, silverstrummer. Your words are beautiful and let me know that I’ve done my job…he definitely deserves to be remembered and thanked, as all our service members do.
Great name, too, silverstrummer (although silvertongued would work, too!).
indyanna

Thank you for your honesty and reliving and sharing such a heartbreaking countdown. It is all the more touching because you wrote it on such a profound day. By letting go and sharing this with us, you have let his memory live on even more so. Just beautiful.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you, indyanna. I had to do something to “let go” yet mark the day so I wasn’t forgetting. It was very hard to take that bracelet off.
cfam

I am very moved by this story and the way in which you wrote it. It is a beautiful piece of writing because it comes from the heart. To your cousin, may he rest in peace. God Bless You.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you. Everyone’s comments have made me feel this piece even more.
sophisticated3

moving.

something many can relate to
dolphinkist replied

It’s a time in my life that was heartwrenching, but I’m so glad I didn’t miss it.
Thanks so much for your comment.
g richard ande...

my son called last night from Kuwait… he heads into Iraq today. I am so proud of him for choosing to do this. I came upon this by chance this morning and am moved to tears by it. I feel oddly connected and comforted by it. thank you for sharing it.
dolphinkist replied

Thank you so much for your comments. I can’t tell you how much they mean to me. I am not military savvy and do not have all the right technical terms and just wrote what I “knew” at the time. It made me worried that I might offend other military families or say something wrong (in fact, I hadn’t shared it with my own family for that reason). I was just writing something that was so important in my life. I am so proud of our military and the sacrifices they make.

I will keep your son in my thoughts. Thank him for me, please. I wish him a safe return.
g richard ande...

Actually, I know that he appreciates all of the kind words, thoughts and prayers. He asks me to thank you for offering your support of them and what they do. He has made it very clear that he feels honored to serve for us and to do what must be done, not for any one person or leader, but for our country, our freedom, our mission… for US. So, thank you from him.
dolphinkist replied

Your son is very much welcome, although he does not owe me any thanks. He has my admiration and heartfelt thanks, as he justly deserves. And thank YOU, too. I have no doubt your son makes you proud, but I also know that you must worry and that it is quite a sacrifice you are making, too.
notez

Your remembering Five Years Ago is like it happened yesterday all over again. This writing was so superb in displaying the events as we all lived them. To other readers, I am dolphinkist’s mother. My daughter was such comfort to all—aunt, cousins, uncle, and her parents mostly. Love You my daughter.
adgray

LEST WE FORGET!