Alex was on a training exercise that day, and boy did it hit hard! I was pretty sure he wasn't involved, he hadn't told me he would be going to Nevada, but it shook me just the same.
His family was worrying, I was worrying, and there was no way to get in direct contact with him. The only upside about this was that he wasn't deployed. When he was deployed I and the US ambassador was killed I was on edge. Thankfully two of his friends assured us he was alright.
A few days later, I was hash tag hopping and found the girlfriend of one of the marines who died on instagram. My heart was freshly broken as I saw her posts prior to her boyfriend's passing. She was counting down the days until he was home again, and he only had a week left. I could not imagine being him, being caught in the blast and thinking it was so close, and that he is so young, and that he must be dreaming.
I would be either numb or inconsolable.
They will always be in my thoughts, and I'm hugging tighter to my marine.
