EXTREME MAKEOVER
One tough, hardworking father, one faithful, caring mom;
One vibrant, lovely daughter, one strong, fun-loving son:
A family forged in friendship, growing close, and taking pride
In the weaving of their tapestry; their strands so tightly tied.
Some joyful times, some silly ones: the pattern strong and fine.
Some hardship, some adversity, all part of the design.
Months and years of loving were required for this art:
Hours and days spent weaving all the strands from each one's heart.
They stayed connected, faithfully. Wrote letters. Talked by phone.
Sent packages to foreign lands: The son was far from home.
But it only took a moment, just two soldiers at the door,
Unraveling all their work with devastating news from war:
"The Secretary of the Army has asked me
To express his deepest regret
That your son, Specialist Bradley Beard,
Was killed in action in Ar Ramadi, Iraq
On October 14, 2004."
Now, they sit for lonely hours as they contemplate the sight
Of the blood-soaked, tattered fabric of their tapestry of life—
How could this horror happen? Was their love too weak to bind
All the threads that so connected tender hearts, and souls, and minds?
They cherished every nuance of their own unique design
'Til the fabric was defiled and the threads all misaligned.
The strands are torn forever, now. The pattern gone, destroyed.
And they struggle with the heartbreak of the only son deployed...
To heaven...
But when their lives are over, dreary months have all gone by
Will Brad be sent to welcome them, to meet them in the sky?
Will God redeem their pain, the years they had the son no longer,
And reinstate their weaving...this time brighter and far stronger?