Come with me to a place I loved to go in my early days as an adult. It offered the beauty of the great Atlantic and the wonderful blue skies, painted with the Masters touch. At night the beauty would leave me breathless and in awe of the magnificent force that seemed always to speak to me.

Just drive down A1A with me, it’s called the First Coast, just before St. Augustine you will find it now, filled with man’s modern work, while I, back then shared it only with my thoughts and God. I once found a beached whale there and somehow I felt connected to this wonderful huge mammal, I offered up a prayer for it and shed my tears of its loss to a world that seemed to no longer care.

At night a bonfire could be seen for miles and always seemed to light the skyline a bit more with shimmers of life as the sparks leap into the air. I enjoyed this place either day or night, my connection was here to be alone and feel the power and strength God would grant me to carry on.

I need to be here, the quiet waves lurching upon the beach with its spew of foam, taking back with it the life forces to the sea and then renewing the life and sands of the beach. Dusk has now set so I will light my fire and wait for my coffee to brew, grab a cup and sit with me, feel the power and mighty force of the Universe at hand.

I am feeling the awesome power of God right now and the loss of a wonderful man, someone said to me “what a terrible waste of life.” Well you see my friend lost his life fighting for you and me, to keep us free and a future for our children and those children in the land of Iraq. He felt a duty and an honor to go there and now I was given the greatest privilege to be a part of his service to say goodbye and farewell to a man who gave all he had. Many around the world were able to view this service and share Mitch’s life.

Now I come back to those cruel words spoken and they inflame my heart with anger, for you see my son and others son’s are there fighting for just that person to be able to say that. A fight my son and many others fill is worth the ultimate gift to you and me.

Oh God, I know you are there guiding the forces and letting man make his choices, for that I thank you. I thank you for the beauty that fills my vision now of peace and serenity. I know that you received Mitch into your hands in less than a blink of an eye. I know he gave many a legacy to honor and live by.
While I sit close by now on this beach of life, finding renewed strength and warmth, I ask you to take the anger from my heart and the anger of many who are against us. Protect those in harms way, give them all that they need to carry freedom onward and give us the peace in our hearts to accept that which is so hard to do at times.

Now as in then, I will spread my blanket and curl by the fire. Gazing into the great Universe I will rest and find my soul renewed and if I look hard enough I will see Mitch tipping a star for me.

Sleep well my friends and gather your thoughts while the dark of night will come with a cloak and take all that is sorrowful away. I want to thank you for coming with me on this journey, have a safe return and hopefully you have shared this night with me and the great Master who gave it all to us.

Here follows a short exchange from one other and myself.

Cousin Justin, will you join us? I remember you at your grandparents' anniversary, about to leave for Iraq, looking so strong and confident, people all around you. I hung back; you seemed like a star of the gathering, and I thought I could get to know you better after you came back. Well, that was not to be, so can you in spirit join us while we seek the peace and soak up the infinity? This is Tobiejo, a friend and a builder of campfires. She'd like to tell you about Mitch. We'd both like to hear about you. Yes, you were a star, but it was not cheap glamor; you put yourself on the line and only God knows how much hurt your last earthly moments saved. Maybe some guy named Leo can join us. (by Dan Ellsworth)

As the campfire was built, then came the kindred spirits dressed in their finest tales and remembrances, long into the night, the flame they will burn, till tomorrow our brethren ,till tomorrow when the days have ended and our spirits rejoined, let your days be kindled by warm memories that lie deep within each who have shared this fire.

I woke to a gentle stir across my face, looking about I saw nothing. Trying to sit up and look around my strength failed me as I fell back down to the ground. There was neither cold or hot, nor dark or light. All I could now see was what the last days had been.

Slowly my thoughts stirred within me and I could remember the vast emptiness, the land left empty with an ashen dust. I had walked to the four corners and each lay in ruin. There was no water in streams or oceans, rivers or creeks. No trees lined mountain tops, no forest to be found. Hunger no longer an issue for thirst had gone with the hunger. My children were somewhere deep within my thoughts as I struggled each day to find them and keep them safe. I had walked the land as far as icebergs and oceans and desserts, still finding not one soul.

I was left alone here and in days past I had wondered why, now my strength would not even let me think of that. Was I the very last soul to be upon this land, would there be no one to carry on families and homes? I had no tears to shed, just emptiness deep down. Now I was at the brink of my last breath and I had no desires or wishes. I accepted without question my time was at an end and the world would be no more.

Closing my eyes and letting go of my being seemed so easy now, there was no struggle to survive, no will to force me onward. It was a relief to feel this way, never before with any great magnitude had these feelings surfaced in my life, now it was simply just to finish letting go and find what I did not know.

I felt a gentle touch on my arm and as I turned my head I saw him, a brilliant beautiful Red Cardinal. He forced me to look into his eyes and I felt them pierce the core of me, the essence of my soul as I struggled to touch him, he moved toward me and with his help, I touched his wings and with a quick lift I was in flight upon his wings.

Mitch Carver was a Chief Warrant Officer 3.

My heart is so broken right now. I knew Friday when I heard of the crash, it would be one of the men who Charlie (my daughter ) served with at Fort Stewart. When I met him I asked if he was available for me not Charlie. His smile was awesome and man what a body. Mainly what a man he was and he loved what he did.My heart goes out to his Family. Below is the poem I just wrote in His memory for his Mom. Mitch is on the left in top picture and on the right in the other one.

For a closer view of who Mitch was click this link.

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060115/NEWS01/60114031/1001

Heartbeat, the first precious moment of life
His heartbeat, God’s great gift to you
As your arms cuddled him to your breast
A smile filled the soul and spirit of you

Heartbeat, the last sign of life lost
His heartbeat, gone back to God
As your arms fall empty upon your breast
Tears fill your soul, your spirit fights to survive

Let his Heartbeat live long past his life Oh Lord
While you have taken him home to fulfill his destiny
Comfort us as we mourn his loss Oh Lord

The moon lay there across the gentle pull of waves, looking as big as the mountains I had just left. I was now twelve years old and boy what a birthday present this was. My Dad, several weeks before, had called from Florida and asked how I would like Florida as a birthday gift. Well let me tell you I was the most popular girl in school then, the other kids like me had never been away neither. It seemed the day would never come and now here I was looking at this wonderfully giant moon. Falling in love right then and there, my heart was filled.

The warm golden rays of brilliance ran across the soft splashing waves, with a gentle sound as the waves came ashore becoming one. There was no horizon or skyline just moon and water. A brilliant painting by a master above, I felt then the pull of this magnificent force that would last my lifetime and beyond. This would be the first of many years and nights standing next to this beauty and yet I would never again capture the moon as I had that night. I often wondered if maybe God just made that night for me, a once in a lifetime view. The beautiful Atlantic Ocean and the Moon still pull at my heart and I often long for that wonderful scene to reappear just once more.

Erma

Erma sat there in the small room stifled by the strong pungent odor of cigarettes and garbage of weeks gone by. Her eyes sunken and black were like holes left from a bomb. Her face drawn, with her skin sallow and lifeless she flung papers one after another through the stale air.

Words echoing through her mind so fast she could hardly get them down on paper as she flung a new batch to the already covered floor. What is wrong she asked herself, over and over I have done this and still I am at the beginning once again. Where is the beginning and why can’t I write my words to fit the ending which I so clearly see.

“Damn writing, to hell with it,” she said standing up and tripping on the pile at her feet. Kicking them she flew into a rage and sat back down. “Damn you I will finish this and no you are not going to stop me, do you hear me” she screamed into the smoked filled air.

The words had come so easily in the beginning, in her dream she knew every one of them, she saw where it would take her and she knew a best seller would soon hit the markets. She would be overcome with accolades from all the important people of the publishing world demanding another great work from her.
Throwing her head down on the pile of unfinished papers she sobbed. Who was she kidding, herself? Reaching for another cigarette, realizing the pack was again empty, she fumbled looking, almost ranting as she realized there was no more.

“Well hell,” she said as she strode through the door slamming it. The short walk to the corner Handy Mart seemed to give her a sense of freedom as she told the man to give her four cartoons of cigarettes and a fifth of their cheapest whiskey. Paying the man she left, to return to her rancid room. “This time by damn I will find the words and I will write my best story ever,” she muttered as she reached for the door, flinging the package down and finding a dirty glass pouring herself a glass full. Ripping the cigarette from the pack she lit it and sat down by her desk. Savoring the whiskey and the long drag from the cigarette, “this time, this time” she said.

Her eyes seemed to suddenely come to life and her heart skipped a few beats. Taking another long slug from her glass and a long drag from her cigarette, she grabbed her pen and began to write. The words were blurred and she became more intense and fierce as her hand moved across the paper.

With sirens blaring, the police came. The stench from the room had alarmed her neighbors and they had made the call. “Every one stand back,” the policeman said as he kicked the door open. Covering his nostrils and moving forward he saw her slumped on the desk, the bottle knocked over, cigarettes lay burnt all over the desk. The medical examiner came inside now and looking about he said “doesn’t look like foul play here," as he moved her body. His eyes went to the piles of papers, “my lord son look at this” he said. The pen had fallen from her hands and her scrawled words read, “I finally made the headlines.”

Through the darkness of rain and night
Words echoed deeply within their hearts
They had been found, deep within the earth

Hope sprang forward with light
Then hours later, a desperate cry
Twelve dead, one clinging, hanging on

Sorrow, anger, tears flowing
A miscommunication, sorry they said
Now family’s broken, need time

Lift up your prayers my friends
Pray that the broken spirits will heal with time
Pray for those gone on, in the bowels of earth

When His soul touches a heart
Heaven is close at hand
While love warms and wraps your being
The soul seals and heals your wounds

So let your heart be touched by His soul
Feel heaven as you look at Him
Know that His being is near
Forever to touch and hold you

Be the keeper of my soul
While I walk the plains of earth
Be the keeper of my soul
When I return to you forever