A/N: Major Character death in this part. Turn back now if you don't want to read. Thanks very much for all the reviews.
I was just thinking about moving back to Colorado when the card arrived in my mailbox. An invitation to the funeral of Major General Jonathan O'Neill. I cried. It wasn't fair, I hadn't got to say goodbye to him. He still had so much to live for. I must have spent hours crying. I didn't think could face going to the funeral or her. She must hate me, for introducing her to Jack.
I went to the funeral, how could I not? There was a lot a military personnel at the funeral; all the different branches of the military were well represented. Some of them I'd seen on TV. 'Oh Lord Jack,' I thought. 'Just what had you been up to?' The funeral was illuminating; everyone shared the glimpses they had of Jack that went a long way to making up a complete picture of the man. Finally his wife rose and addressed the congregation. I can still hear the speech, even now all these years later.
"I didn't know Jack for as long as some of you but I knew enough to know that he was a good, decent man and a wonderful father to our four children. The one word that I've come to know that each military wife must hate, has been banded about more times than you could shake a stick at "Classified". I don't know where he died or how he died. I know that he died in the service of his country, and for a military man that is all that he could have asked for. My husband died to make a difference, somewhere in this world. He was a good man, it was his time to die and in the end that's all that really matters."
I was stunned that she was so calm and collected about this. I expected her to be mad; damn I was mad when I heard he had died in a "training accident". As I waiting in line to speak to her I noticed the redness around her eyes. She welcomed me with a warm smile only slightly tempered by the sadness clinging to her. Thanked me for coming, and thanked me for introducing her to Jack. Without my introduction she wouldn't have had the happiest years of her life, however short. She told me that Jack had been not just content but happy, in the days before he left the shadows had completely disappeared from his eyes. In all the months that I had known Jack intimately, those shadows had never been far away from his eyes. I'm glad that they were happy. When I look at the world I see too many people who are unhappy. I firmly believe that happiness is a limited commodity; you should grab it while you can. You never know when you're going to get the chance again.