Thank you

To the colleague who stepped on an emotional land mine today.

And then backed off, and said all the right things, asked questions that showed he cared, not voyeuristically but truly, and ended with out platitudes or any other expression of his feelings. Sometimes it is nice to have support that doesn't hinge on others guilt or interest, but on simple human kindness.

Things that make me...

Nervous: News from places where he might be deployed.
Scared: News of casualties in places where he might be deployed.
Cringe: Casual mention of the places that make me nervous and scared, in a blog post where I don't expect them.

I don't want to be holier than thou. I don't want to make it a thing. I don't want to...anything, really.

Except cry, because I don't know how to tell someone that the joke isn't funny, couldn't ever be funny, if you looked at news from that place the same way I do.