One Day Closer
July 16th, 2007 by Jaclyn Sharratt
If you are following the story of my brother then you are aware that his Article 32 went as well as it could have, given the circumstances. Lt. Col. Ware has recommended to Gen. Mattis to drop the murder charges against Justin. He does not see any relevant evidence against my brother, and acknowledges he was doing his job, a task he was trained to do by the USMC. With this wonderful news, a small burden has been lifted from the shoulders of my family. Although we all have embedded in our minds to not jump ahead or assume anything, I think we all have a newfound glimmer of hope. This euphoric feeling is being enhanced with every email we read, every message we respond to, every encouraging phone call we receive. It can be read about in the papers; listened to on the radio; seen on the television. Most importantly, it is heard in the voices of my family.
The phrase ‘everything happens for reason’ is always pressed on someone when they cannot grasp why a situation or circumstance popped up into their lives and made a mess of things. I learned to stop asking myself this question, realizing it only added to the confusion that currently spins through my thoughts. However, I am a bit suspicious of the odds that the majority of our family has made plans, all at different times, and for various reasons, to return home to Pennsylvania next weekend. Maybe because it is my Mom’s birthday, or we have not seen my brother for a long time… or perhaps since ‘everything happens for a reason.’
I tend to avoid saying my hopes, prayers, or dreams out loud just in case they do not happen; but today I will. I close my eyes and imagine us all sitting out on the back deck, laughing at stories (including my favorite of a five-year-old Justin asking Moms why there are so many dogs out in the pasture… they were really cows), and then the phone rings. The caller will be our attorney, Gary Myers. He begins the conversation saying he has news, and we all gather around the phone, listening with a level of intensity that you can feel. His words will blur, but I manage to decipher Gen. Mattis dropped the charges. That my brother is free. That this nightmare is over. That is the reverie of my family.