Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005
Hits Close To Home
This afternoon when I first got to work and had clocked in, gotten my glass of water, and opened my Nutty Buddy bar, I started surfing the internet. Before I left home to come to work, I had mentioned to Adam; who was half-asleep, that we really need to start looking at apartments soon. He said that he checks the newspaper every day at work and I told him that I look online at the classified ads that are in our local paper.
Today, I decided to do just that. I went to the newspapers' website thinking that I'd only be looking for half-a-doubles and apartments that were for rent when a picture on the front page caught my eye.
It was a picture of a boy from my high school. He graduated in my class (2001). I remember having a few classes with him during the four years that I was there. He sat behind me in most of them because our last names started with the same letter. Damn those teachers who's seating arrangements were in alphabetical order. Although I was never close with him, he was always friendly towards me. I was closer with his step-siblings who also went to my school.
I scanned the headlines on the front page of the paper and suddenly panicked and realized why his picture was posted. He was a soldier who died in Iraq. The newpaper said that he was struck by an explosive.
Several people I know have either been in Iraq, are in Iraq now, or are going to Iraq, but this is the first person I knew who was killed while serving time there. It's so scary...I feel awful for his friends and family. I can't even imagine what they must be going through right now.
Seeing his picture in the paper and reading the article really hit close to home...and I didn't even really know him very well. It's such a weird feeling knowing that four years ago we were seniors in high school together. I'd see him in class, or in the cafateria, or in passing while walking to and from classes and I can picture him vividly wearing his JROTC uniform. Back then, I never would have thought that he'd be a soldier who died fighting for our country; I thought of him as just another face in the crowd.