ONCE A LOVING FAMILY

We were once a loving family, a girl, a boy, my wife and I finding joy in simplicity, a day by the sea, a night of TV, a well remembered memory of life as it used to be. No sorrow could invade the life we made, the games we played, the future we faced unafraid.

We recall the night a shooting star lit up the sky, so high, so far but yet so near. We recall a perfect fall followed by an early snow and temperatures of ten below, so cold for ten days in a row, then an early spring and everything was bright and new.

We recall all the things we did when our kids were small. Watching TV ''toones together when snowbound by windy wintry weather, shopping for gifts at Christmas time, listening to the churchbell chimes. Faded, ragged 'jeans, so cool, sunning at the township pool, riding bikes home from school.

We recall temper tantrums, terrible teens. Daughter's first date, came home late, the scary wait until we heard her at the door. Worry, that's what moms and dads are for.

So much do we recall. It's all just memory now. How will we endure? Is there a cure for a broken heart?

There was Iraq. A senseless war. No turning back. An incompetent president would not relent. Just sent more cannon fodder to replace the wounded and the dead. A war based on lies. Just plain murder in disguise.

Our family, torn apart from the start by patriotic pride that made our son decide to join like-minded youth who bought the lie as gospel truth. He fought. He died. We cried. Emptiness gnawed inside.

One night, our daughter, with tearful, reddened eyes, vowed to share her brother's plight. She went to war. They both died for what they believed right. Was it worth the fight? We cannot decide. At least they tried.

We miss our children with sadness and with pride.