Later that same Tuesday

Thank you to everyone who's emailed me about dad. It's interesting to hear that he talked to guys about his military service but I guess that's logical. The first few days after he died there were news items about asteroid showers on Mars (or was it Jupiter?) and I remember thinking that if it was allowed he'd fly over there and watch it first hand.

I hope Nils Thompson had a birds eye view for the Discovery landing this lunchtime. He was a 19 year old US soldier killed by sniper fire in Mosul on Thursday. His memorial service was held yesterday evening - scroll down a bit to see the photos here. Sitting through a service which is conducted next to his boots and helmet must have been difficult. Even when the situation is designed to make you lose it I know it's possible to keep your cool. You just have to be bloody minded and oh-so-determined. I didn't cry at dad's memorial service. I did a reading in the packed church and it's one of my proudest moments. It was tape recorded by a proper sound recordist and I would recommend this to everyone. I promise to be more light hearted tomorrow.