Remember Eddie, Remember His Message By Lance Fairchok

Early Wednesday afternoon, in a break from teaching, I took a moment to check my e-mail. The first line of the first message I opened hit me as hard as any message could. “Sergeant Eddie Jeffers, 23, was killed this morning in Iraq.”

Eddie’s father Dave is a colleague and good friend, and just a few hours earlier Dave and I had spoken of Eddie, the son he loved, the son that made him proud, the son I felt I knew after listening to my friend over the last couple of years. He has pictures of Eddie on his desk, pictures of a tall young man in uniform, smiling with his father, pictures of a warm and loving relationship, pictures that are precious now. How can you comfort a dear friend when his son is killed? How can you find a way to convey your sympathy? How can you find the words to describe the sorrow that you share but can never truly understand? Everything falls short, and flowers and cards seem an empty gesture.

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