The Long Weekend of Weeping

So this is how the summer of 2006 was to end. Payback with some of the inches of rain we missed in July. Payback from an angry man setting off an IED killing one of our beloved kids in a hot desert far from home. Other Moms and Dads calling Iraq seeking assurance that their beloved are OK. News of close calls. Telling them that we love them and are proud of them. The things Moms and Dads do. Sleeping poorly. Another three letter word explodes into our vocabulary, into our dreams. A community weeping, worrying, wailing and waiting for him and them to come home when their labor is done.