Barack Obama

Death will come for us all, sooner or later... what is important is not how or even whether we die, but how we live in what time we have.

"I know I'm nothing special to DU, my contributions were piss poor and I just had to apologize to my AA, LGBT and everyone else I should have stood up for. Not an excuse but you should know that having done the unspeakable during the war has left me with many issues including communicating properly. For every post I manage to make at least 20 have been scrapped due to uncertainty. "

My Grandfather was a Marine who fought overseas - and he also did unspeakable things that left him deeply scarred for life. For all of that though, he was one of the greatest men I have ever had the honor of knowing. A world war II vet who used to tell me he felt worth his weight in wildcats. Even on his deathbed, he was not disheartened, not depressed, but full of the same humor and energy I had always known from him... jumping up and down on his hospital bed days before he passed, asking his seven year old grandson if he was still wearing diapers. Ah, I miss that man.

Everyone of us fighting the good fight here is special. I wish I could thank you for your service in the armed forces and as a democrat... in a way that didn't seem underwhelming. Some times there just aren't words for expressing gratitude and compassion.

I don't know what you believe in, some times I'm not even sure what I believe in... but if I have faith in anything, it's that the quest for knowledge, for wisdom, for enlightenment, for greater love... never ends. That comforts me when I think about my own death, that I believe there is something beyond this life, something grand and wonderful and peaceful.

Just remember that miracles happen every day - every time a child is born, every time someone makes a decision for peace instead of violence, every time someone saves a life or stands up for the oppressed. You are very much a part of this fight for progress, for democracy, for the fate and the future of the human race - and I am proud to have you with us.

I hope you find peace. I know that sounds inadequate... I hope you find everything you ever wanted or wished for. I hope you are deeply blessed and filled with love and compassion. Wherever you go from here, you made a positive difference, don't ever think otherwise.

It takes a lot of courage to stare into the face of death - you have my admiration and my respect.