Veterans Mass

Quite a few veterans turned out and current service men and women. One of the parishioners was being deployed to Iraq on Tuesday (which was yesterday). So the entire church prayed for him and his family and called his family up to the altar. His wife, holding their 10 day old son, was crying so hard I couldn't focus on her. I did for a second and started crying and decided that wasn't the important part of the story even though it showed the most emotion. I felt the community standing in front of them with their hands in the air and how they almost resembled a holy family standing up there praying for safety was where I wanted to focus. I wish I could have gotten more hands in the air in the frame but I see that looking back now.

Soldier Silhouettes

Two photos for two very different stories done weeks apart and yet very similar. The first was from a yellow ribbon ceremony for New Mexico Air National Guard's 150th Fighter Wing deploying to Iraq and the second was an illustration for a story on women veterans shot at the beginning of October.