In Remembrance...

 Today marks the five year anniversary of the death of one of Skip's friends from the Marines.  In honor of Jesse I am reposting what I wrote about him last May.  We miss you Jesse...

Not All Precious Jewelry Has to Sparkle

By nature I am not really a bracelet type of girl. I have a few beautiful ones that I save for special occasions, but never day-to-day.  However, recently I have taken to wearing a bracelet every day that my husband gave me a few years ago.  Now my husband has WONDERFUL taste in jewelry and has gotten me several beautiful pieces over the years.  However this particular bracelet may not appeal to most of the general public.  Here are two pictures:

It is made of green parachute cord, attached with a button found lying around somewhere.  It was a birthday present from my husband when he was only my fiance, back in October of 2004...when he was deployed to Iraq.  See...it's all starting to make sense now:)  All of the Marines in my husband unit wore these 24 hours a day 7 days a week, the entire length of their deployment.  He had one made for me, that matched his, so we could always be connected to each other in some way while he was gone.  Neither of us took it off until months after he came home. (I had even wanted to wear it to my wedding, but my mom refused and knew it would look terrible:) ) While he was gone, whenever I missed him, I would look down and touch the bracelet, wondering if he was doing the same thing at the same time.  It really helped to get us through those long hours, days, and months.  

This bracelet also has special meaning for me in another way.  The Marine who actually made the bracelet was one of my husband's closest friends, Jesse.  Jesse was Skip's roommate for the entire deployment, sleeping on the top of their bunk beds.  He was the turret gunner in their Humvee and was always great for some comic relief.  He made me the bracelet in return for a mix CD (Skip and I don't agree on music, but Jesse and I did, haha) and I even talked to him on the phone once in Iraq.  The last time I saw him was the day they came home, underneath the plane, while waiting for all their bags.  I gave him a hug and said I was glad he was home safe.  Sadly, that was the last time I saw Jesse, because only 3 months after they got home, he drown while on vacation with some of his friends from home.  The shock that someone could survive a war and then come home and die, tore my heart apart.  Being at a military funeral for someone so young was one of the worst days I have ever experienced.  That day, and every year on the anniversary of his death, I put on the bracelet and think of Jesse.  I feel lucky that all the guys in his unit will forever has this special tie to him.

So why am I wearing this bracelet again?  I put it on the other day in support of my husband as he ran his first 5K race (he laughed at me, because he runs at least a 5K length of 3.2 miles about 4 times a week, but I was excited about the first actual race)  And as I was looking at the bracelet that day, it reminded me again about how much he and I went through when he was deployed, and how it strengthened our relationship.  It is a reminder of just how lucky I am every day to have him home with me.  And as with Jesse, it is a reminder that even though someone survives a war, they are not immortal and bad things can still happen (an especially big worry when your husband is a cop!) It reminds me of all the Marines and soldiers still over there, and all the families at home struggling without them.  It reminds me that even when things seem impossibly hard, I can find the inner strength to do them.  It reminds me that if my husband had not come home, I would never have my beautiful daughter.  It reminds me that small problems and annoyances are trivial in the face of real danger.  It reminds me that my husband is a true hero in all sense of the word, and I will never fully be able to express how proud I am of him.  It reminds me that just because someone leaves the war, doesn't mean that the war leaves them.  It reminds me that Skip and I can get through anything life throws at us, together.