a soldier coming home

my first year at UW, in 2001, jeff c. enrolled in two of my classes. he was (and i believe still is) a digital media wiz and it was a pleasure to work with him. i could always count on jeff to say something original. i could always count on jeff to create something original. and i could always count on jeff to encourage other students to be original.

then jeff joined the air force.

then george bush started his war in iraq.

then jeff was gone.

jeff was someone i was thinking about a lot when i wrote "collective wondering" for UW's student newspaper, the daily, in may, 2005. the column's last paragraph was:

I've been wondering a lot lately about the bloodshed of war, the brutality of war, the barbarity of war. And I've been wondering why, in a country with millions of channels and Web sites, the blood remains invisible and unseen, neither felt nor discussed. But most of all, I wonder when the troops will come home and I wonder how great it will be to see my friends and students again. I want that day to be today.

after not hearing from jeff for over a year and a half, it made me insanely happy to see his email in my inbox this week. jeff's coming home. hurry on home, jeff - dinner's on me.