SOLDIERS....

(FOCUS MAINLY ON THE PICTURE TO THE TOP LEFT....the others are just deeper, easier to understand representations)
To most this is a sad picture, knowing that a soldier has died! But for me it's become more than that, I used to see this image and look at it a second, think "what a shame", and now I look at it and can't help but start to cry. After Lecture 1 and Chapter 1 I understand..



As most of you may know I have a fiancee in Iraq, to me this image means he may not be coming home. The helmet, gun, and boots were once worn by a soldier who was supposed to return home to his family and friends, yet now it stands as a memorial to honor him and his sacrafice. This picture I view as a work of art; representing the loss and change of not just one person or family, but of this country and the world. Each passing day reminds us that our life is not gauranteed, nor is it promised. There are men and women fighting for a country they believe in, willing to leave everything they know and love behind. I have been living without my fiancee for a year now, and I still have 2 more to survive. In 2 years everything can change, just like the picture! The boots are a representation of a soldier who no longer will wear them, a helmet that can no longer be placed onto his head, and a gun he used to defend himself and us from harm he can no longer use. None of these things made the person who wore them, but they made the person who died in them. They become unspoken heroes, we may never know exactly whose feet were in those boots before they sacraficed all. Yet somehow, in the last seconds of thier life we know they were strong and brave. Looking at the picture now I know somewhere in the world someone is missing them and continually loving the soldier who died in those boots.
My fiancee may not come home, circumstances that are out of my control may led to this situation. But I know that if that happens, there will be a memorial made just for him like above, and I will know who those boots belonged too and how incredibly loved they were. I can honestly say that before I met my fiancee this imagine made little impact in my daily life, now it is etched into my memory as something that is painful to see, but also something that makes you proud to know that somewhere, there is someone fighting particularly for me. And because of this war I may lose all as well. I may never have that walk down the isle, or the two children we always talked about, the dream house we made plans to build, I could lose it all in a blink of an eye. The image above means more than most of you may ever feel, but I understand now that we are all different and that our lives change drastically. This image is a reminder to me my life and everything I love is on the line.
I hope next time you walk by a memorial, or a piece of art that is dedicated to soldiers from the past or present, that you realize there are some of us out there who are waiting patiently for that soldier.