I think of the marines who served with my son often.  I tend to keep up with them on Facebook as they tend to post often and I read their stuff, see their kids and feel their pain.

Garrett’s 4th anniversary passed on 27 Dec. 2014 and for the Christmas season, things are often hard for me.  Once Christmas passes, the Anniversary of Garrett’s death hits.  The truth of the matter is, he was actually killed on 26 Dec, but the military records say the 27th.  I can honestly say this because I was in the tub in Southern California when I received a call from my daughter who was at home when 2 uniformed Marines showed up on my front porch with the news that he was killed.  It was December 26th in the evening.  By the time I got the call, it was approximately 9:30 p.m. California time.

Anyway, because my mind has trouble saying “yes it was the 27th,” and not explaining that it really was the 26th every time, I just suffer for 2 days rather than one… although, every day holds its own suffering.  Someone once said that it was like carrying around a rock in your pocket.  It is always there, but you get accustomed to it being there, so you don’t always notice the bulk or weight of it all, but it wears on you and suddenly you notice its there.  You beat yourself up because you kind-of forgot it was there for a few moments or days, then because you forgot, your mind makes you feel awful for forgetting though in forgetting you were able to get along a few days as if life was normal.

There’s nothing normal about your kid being murdered by terrorists.

I say all that to say this.  During those days surrounding the 25th, 26th and 27th of December, many of Garrett’s friends stop by my Facebook page (or tag me) to let me know they don’t forget.  They truly don’t!  They remember the day as much as I remember the day.  I don’t know how they do that, but it certainly feels good that they do.  They post photos and tell stories about their time with him.  Here are just a few pictures that they shared this year.