Sorry for the long pause: various family members have been sick, and it's all been very complicated and involved many doctor visits, and then the PTA stuff got a little out of hand for a couple of weeks. Things could be described as calmer now, or at least a new routine encompassing all of the changes has been settled and I find I have a few minutes to write. I could be unloading my dishwasher right now but that's always true . . .

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Also as a result of Governor Ehrlich's reception, I exchanged phone numbers with a couple of the other November 2004 mothers, Martina Burger (Dale Burger, Jr) and Tracy Miller (Nicholas Ziolkowski). Though we did not immediately start talking on a daily basis (and still do not, though we know where the others are), it was comforting to know we had the option. Another Army mother, Linda Faulstich (Raymond Faulstich, Jr; August, 2004) also gave me her number, all written on the back of the program which listed the twelve Marylanders killed in the previous six or so months, along with the numbers of various staffers in the governor's office. I used almost all of those numbers that year. [Linda gave me permission to use her name, and the other two mothers and I, along with Tia Steele (David Branning ) were featured in a Baltimore Sun article about the November 2004 mothers on the first anniversary.]

Memorial Day of 2005, we received an invitation to a ceremony at a cemetery north of Baltimore, again including the governor, as well as the families we'd already met. This was a public event and I was amazed by the number of people who came. I actually don't remember a great deal about it: there were speeches, the families were given very nice plaques which I shall try to photograph and insert here later, and a lapel pin showing the boots, rifle and helmet of a fallen servicemember was handed out. Again, it was a lovely day. Somehow, it did not rain often in my memory of all that time. I'm not sure what the weather reports about those days would say.