Today is October 6th. On this day in 2007 my son Ben and my daughter AJ were on their way home to be God parents for my grandsons baptism. I got up that morning and went to work. I was a little miffed at AJ because she gets a little pushy about church. My cell phone rang at 2pm. I did not answer it because I thought it was AJ, and I did not want to argue with her. It wasn't her calling, It was the highway patrol. I went to the church with my husband and youngest daughter to make prepartions for the baptism the next day. As we sat at the parsonage a pickup pulled up and my husbands cousins got out and I knew something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. They came in and said there had been an aaccident and that Ben was dead and AJ was being rushed to the hospital in Bismarck. A man driving a big pickup with a fifthwheel trailer behind it ran a stop sign on the highway and hit my daughters car. At first I thought no way this could not be happening again. Ben was taken to Dickenson hospital. My first born Son was dead. We got there to identify his body. He looked like he was sleeping but I could'nt wake him up. Reality starts to set in. Then we made the trip to Bismarck to be with AJ when we got there they said she was in surgery but that she probably would'nt make it. I really thought I had seen it all. I was so wrong. I sat by AJ's side while in intensive care. The doctor told me not to bury Ben because I would probably have to bury AJ too. At this point my husband could barely function. I stayed by her side for 2 weeks praying and begging her to please not die. When it became clear that AJ was going to live I helped my husband make funeral arrangements for Ben over the phone. Ben was a beautifu, wonderful, brave, and loving man. We were'nt just mother and son we were best friends. He always knew when I was feeling bad. He would call and say " mom are you crying". Even when he was hunting bombs in Iraq he knew when I was feeling bad. He would sing to me a Garth Brooks song called The Dance. He would sing " You could've missed the pain but you would have to miss the dance, and you dont want to miss that. Sorry I can't finish this. I want to but I can't.