Timing can be a powerful thing, in more ways than one.

Sometimes you come across items, photos and nowadays webposts that really hit you. The timing is always uncanny and it is almost as if a higher power put it there for you to read.  Today I was googling some things and a link to a link of a link sent me to a blog post. The blog is of an Army Medic, it was his last post before being killed in theatre. I hesitated at first for obvious reasons, the strongest being that the post was about his tour ending and him being on his way back to the USA after a year in AFG.  I prepared myself to get sick, weep or whatever else would come along with reading something so powerful.  To my surprise, the topics he wrote of were aligned with what I feel daily and I am a civilian, not a soldier.  His writings are about so much more than a war or the military.  What I found to be the most comforting part of his final blog post is how proud he was of his work as a medic during wartime and that he would do it again in a heartbeat.  His family should be proud, I am to assume many  others aren't left with such a poignant gift from a loved one lost at war.  We all have our worries when it comes to a deployment, that is natural, war is a horrific vision in our minds.  Finally I have realized that constant manic worrying (like I did for our previous deployment) doesn't do a thing for anybody. I am going to try my absolute hardest to keep it under control.

We ALL have our gifts and purpose in life, not just service members; all of us.  It is the path of life.  I think many of us are feeling the way Eric was about society in America these days.  He wasn't and isn't alone.  What I take away from the little I know of his legacy and his candid opinion on his return home from a foreign land is this.  If we can't control what everyone else is doing collectively, continue with your standards & beliefs. In your work, in teaching your children and who you surround yourself with.   In the end, it is who you are and when you leave this life, your character is what you pass on to others.   You did a good job Mr. Williams, and today you gave this military spouse a little bit more strength to persevere through this next mission.

Thank you for your service Eric Williams, and thank you for your words today.

the post I read:  http://myfriendthemedic.blogspot.com/2012/07/coming-home.html