threeplusfire: (blue Norrington)
three ([personal profile] threeplusfire) wrote2005-08-05 06:18 pm

the thought of life without

What have I done in my week of not updating my LJ? Well, mostly I kvetched about the fact that I had nothing to say. But that's not so much the truth as I have a lot to say but I'm still looking for a reason to say it.

Yesterday I learned that a boy I went to school with was killed in an ambush in Haditha, Iraq. When Dale was a kid, he was almost always in camouflage clothes. We went to elementary school together, and the first year of middle school. We threw a lot of paper airplanes in math class. He was a quiet kid, who always wanted to be a soldier. Dale grew up, became a Marine and got married. He died on Monday, 08/01/05, when his unit was ambushed. It's hard for me to imagine that dark haired boy from my childhood and connect it to the obituary in the local paper and the photos of him on the news in his Marine uniform. It makes me incredibly sad. I probably haven't thought about Dale in more than a decade, but I saw his name in the news article and the memory of paper airplanes was vivid. I don't even know if I have anything useful to say, about how the death of someone we know makes this war more real. I don't know. I'm just sad, and I think about the girl he married and the life he isn't going to have now. Dale was my age and he was supposed to come home in October.

The main office at my apartment complex burned down. The police are fairly sure it was arson. Another property nearby owned by the same company also had a fire in their office. Very strange. Thankfully, none of the homes in my complex burned.

I wish more of the people I knew from LJ were closer. I wish I could drinking with some of them, or go to dinner, or just hang out on the sofa watching movies. There is a lot that you can't do in the wired, or on the phone.

[identity profile] rm.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 12:00 am (UTC)(link)
no words, but yeah

[identity profile] tsarina.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Every time I'm at the Drafthouse, I keep thinking you would really like it.

[identity profile] sat-meher.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 12:03 am (UTC)(link)
...

[identity profile] a311renegade.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 06:14 am (UTC)(link)
I wish we could have another red, white and blue margarita.

[identity profile] tsarina.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 02:21 pm (UTC)(link)
Hahah, no kidding! I'm going drinking tonight, so I will have an extra one for you. :)

[identity profile] siria.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
I'm so sorry to hear about your friend.

[identity profile] tsarina.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 02:24 pm (UTC)(link)
It's so strange to see pictures of him in the paper, when I've never imagined Dale as anything other than a ten year old boy. I keep imagining a ten year old boy in a flak jacket and helmet with these other boy-soldiers.

Thank you.

[identity profile] cjwriter.livejournal.com 2005-08-06 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I saw those apartment fires on the news and wondered if it was you or near you. Strange, but at least nobody got hurt.

I hear you about LJ people being closer. I have more online friends than offline.