reality check

I have had people over almost three or four times a week to eat, drink and enjoy one another's company. I even bought extra plates, forks and red and white wine glasses to make it more enjoyable. The World Series has given us a lot of good times and the last couple of nights have been no exception. We've made italian chicken, queso dip, fresh guacamole, grilled bread w/ prosciutto, mozarella, tomato basil and avocaado (a must) and drank more than our share.

Last night there were maybe ten people in my room. My old roomate, Bill, who just arrived at Fort Huachuca was one of the newest additions. As the game went on, we drank and laughed and enjoyed ourselves, so, by the end, we all had mantained a nice level of intoxication for watching baseball. Local news followed the game and, as we were laughing and enjoying ourselves, suddenly a lady was on the television talking about soldiers returning from Iraq. Tucson just had a large return of soldiers and the news was covering their reunions with family. As the room grew quiet at the sound of her voice, the lady on television said, "It's a bitter-sweet reunion because we lost some soldiers we love over there and the unit will never be the same."

My friend Jeff broke the silence saying simply, "I don't want to die."

It was one of those moments where the reality of what we're studying and why we're here together hit home...instead of being academic or hypothetical, we realized that not only were quite a few of us going to Iraq or Afghanistan in six or seven weeks, but that any of us who do, Military Intel or not, run the risk of dying. Strange how, even here, sometimes we can forget that the war is a real thing happening to real people...right now.