Tonight on November 6th I said goodbye to a friend of mine named Evan... he is in the NAVY and has already completed boot camp and A- School with flying colors... he came home on leave for 2 weeks and we have hung out just about every chance we have had... you see, Evan is like my brother... i am glad to be able to say that he is one of my best friends... I honestly love him like a brother... it's tough knowing that he is going to be gone for a year to Bahrain in the middle east... ya he'll get leave and all but i am moving to Minneapolis in about 6 months... what then?. And in all cases with the military in our extremely unstable world today, he is going to be in danger alot of the time... My friend Sam wrote a blog recently about the fact that Evan's chances of dying "trump all of ours by 1000%."... that hit home when i read it last night while Evan was sitting by me updating his myspace... i hate to say it but tonight very well could be the last time i ever see Evan... i know it's a morbid depressing thought but what if?... so this leaves me thinking what would life be like without one of the best friends i have ever had or anyone could have for that matter... SAD... tonight as i left his house, pulled out of his driveway and drove home i prayed for him... but i found myself praying very selfishly that God would protect Evan so i wouldn't lose my close friend... suddenly i looked at it from Evan's parents' point of view... What will tomorrow be like watching the little boy who grew up in their house for all of these years go put himself in the line of fire for our freedom?... SAD... Much more sad than i could ever know... the truth is anything could happen... as i wrote this i found myself crying much of the time... i am going to miss Evan alot and i hope to be in contact with him... So i guess thats all i have to say is that i am going to miss him... and i will probably find myself continuing to pray selfishly that God will protect my good friend... but i will also pray that He will protect Craig and Margaret's son and a protector of our country and more importantly our country's freedom... i said goodbye to a friend, a brother, part of my family... and its hard... but this happened and presented me with something to write about... something to spill onto a cyber scrap of paper for thousands to read if they please... here you go Sam... something new to read...
-Bradford-
3 comments:
Ya man, It's hard to say a good-bye like that especially with the catch that may in fact be involved- death. Good thought on trying to put yourself in his parents shoes. I can't, and quite frankely don't really want to imagine hearing the news of a child dead. However, we have an amazing person to call our best friend. He has a huge pair of balls just to be willing to go through with this all. He has matured alot since the fifth grad- more than you and I and is quite honorable- I person I am proud to call my brother.
i cried when i read sam's blog and i pray about him a lot. I guess ive never felt guilty about it, but you do bring up a good point. At the same time though, as you and andrew and many others have proffessed, he is our brother, much like i considder all of you guys the brothers i never had, and theres no reason to feel guilty about praying for your brother.
love you man
Great comment Brad, you made me cry as I was reading what you wrote. You Jerk! I totally wish that we could have had more time with Evan while he was here for this short visit. I'll miss him like crazy too. I've watched him grow up ever since he was a baby, it's amazing to see where he has come in life, I'm so proud to say that I am his friend too. I guess that's what friends are for, to make your true emotions and feelings to come to light when you want the best for them.
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