An Open Letter

A close friend of mine who is serving with the army recently passed away. Upon meeting up with the family after his wake, his mum read out the following, it touched us all and we all had tears in my eyes. With her permission this is her letter, please read it.

 

My dearest Shawn,

Writing this has never been so hard. Never in my life have I felt openly that I wanted to express my hurt to an event.

When you were born, you were so small and the moment you were placed in my arms… what a truly magical moment that was. You had a glimpse in your eyes and your dad and I both had tears of joy. Growing up you was a lovely little boy. You helped anyone out if needed and also had lots of friends. You were never afraid of anything and I think this influenced you to join the army.

The day you told your dad and me about joining the army, my heart sank. It felt as if you were being dragged away from home without the kicking and screaming. You did several tours with the army, and wrote home with fascinating tales, and photographs. But no more.

When we received the phone call informing us of your death, our world was torn apart. You meant everything to us and no matter how much we asked you to leave the army you could not do it. It was your life and you had a lot of friends there. One of which was like your brother, you were based together, trained together and went on holidays together.  You left this world together when you were involved in the roadside bomb.

Not only did we loose a son, the army lost a best friend and also the family lost a stepping stone.

It was not meant to be this way. No family should loose a child before they go, but it was never meant to be in this case. We miss you son, take care wherever you may be.

With much love now and always,

Your loving Mum xx