i was just told by my mom that my cousin justin was seriously injured in battle today. he is in the marines and he is a Sargent. he is considered critical right now. i guess he was under attack by a morter {sp?} and was hit.. he lost his right leg from his knee down. and his left foot. we were very very close {once he went to war the first time, he hasn't been very close to anyone.. but i still love him so much}, so this is really tough. i am trying really hard to stay very positive right now. i just want him home. since he is critical they have to keep him in Kuwait until he is healthy enough to fly. then he will be off to germany and then to maryland {u.s.a.}. it is real tough cause we aren't getting a lot of info at this time. so we aren't sure if his life is really at risk or not. they didn't even know if he suffered any head trauma. so if you all can send some healing his way, i'd be forever in your debt...

you know, the funny thing is that i was really off today. i was fighting anxiety and a serious dark cloud all day. i couldn't figure out why. nothing that i was aware of had set it off. i had a pretty crazy day too. a lot of good sprinkled with some bad. just little annoying things. the bad feelings started when i woke up.... my mom found out at 7am. she knew all day but waited until i was home to tell me. at one point i saw a bunch of crows when i was really irritated, but then it made me feel better. and another time i saw a white crane flying. i am going to take this as a sign that he is going to be ok. that i will see him again.

*i love you justin! and you know better then anyone that grandma will kick your ass if she sees you this soon in the summer land! come back to us. come home safe. we will take care of you.*

*he's the one in the yellow hat on the left. i tried to crop it an it didn't work...

thank you all for your time and energy. i will keep you posted. ~alysia