Yesterday, as I led the pre-Thanksgiving prayer with a dozen-and-a-half members of my family covering four generations - with dogs snuffl'n about for scraps the kids "dropped" and wee-ones making noise - a prayer circle filling the downstairs with relative silence; I was reminded of one of the major reasons it was good to be home after a couple of decades walkabout.
With my father's passing within a year of my return, this is the second year of my role as patriarch of our little gaggle of civilians. My parents and siblings, wife, children, nieces, nephews, and in-laws have the blessings of seeing the progress of time in a mostly "natural" way.
They did not have war take someone early, turning their world upside down. Yes, we have lost people in our family early, but sickness and accident are different. Parents should never have to bury their children; there is so much more to do.
This AM, I read the following from ABC. I initially rolled my eyes, and then came back a few minutes later and read it again. It stuck.
Fullbore? For the family who experiences this; yes. It would haunt me for the rest of my life. Perhaps even in a good way. For this post-Thanksgiving FbF; this will do.
I was filming soldier Justin Rollin’s parents Skip and Rhonda playing with their dog Hero, whose rescue from the Iraq War zone where Justin died was nothing short of a miracle.
Sometimes when Rhonda hugged Hero she would softly pet her face and coo, “Justin, are you in there?” It was Rhonda’s gentle way of remembering their son and his last living connection to Hero. At one point, Hero wandered off and took a stroll in the backyard. All of a sudden, the clouds broke and a light began to solidify in a beam directly down on Hero — a kind of vertical halo.
As this dramatic ray of light was shining on Hero she turned to look at me, and it was all I could do to hold the camera steady and not drop it in astonishment. It was an unforgettable moment, and made me wonder if in fact Justin was in there. Then the light vanished.
I couldn’t wait to check my camera’s playback to see if it caught the stunning beam. When I saw that it did, I was so happy that I burst out dancing. It was a great moment to share with Justin’s parents. We all laughed together, and wondered if perhaps this had been a sign from Justin.Follow the link above for the show about this which will be on tonight.
Hat tip Jazz@hotair.
