To the editor:
Our dearest family and friends. We had no idea how big our family is; how many lives James’ life touched. Thank you! We are overwhelmed with your love and so grateful for the firm hold you have had on us. Thank you for being there; for holding up the world for us! This time of our “stepping aside” in “oh so deep sadness” has been essential for us to rearrange our lives to be able to live here without James. The 600-plus cards, gifts, books, food, calls, texts, e-mails, letters, newspaper reports — all medicine for our souls. Thank you!
We — Tom/Jane, Lynel, Meg/Nate, Christian — are bound together by James’ loving memories. We are forever changed, but “good to go” to continue our course of serving the Master. Again and again, thank you.
It has been an overwhelming flurry of events from the dignified transfer in Dover, Del., to the Veteran’s Day funeral, to the Arlington ceremony, to the Jan. 21st memorial service at Camp LeJeune, N.C.
We finally met his men face to face and heard of the powerful bond they shared with James (Sir). We knew James loved them and heard of their love for him. We heard of the respect they and the officers had for our son as a man, as a warrior. We heard of his final days and his final brave fight. We heard of how that last fight was the beginning of the demise of the Taliban in Marjah — now secure.
Do all these memorials to our son’s life assuage the grief we bear? We don’t know. In a way, knowing that James’ 25 years made a lasting difference is a comfort. There have been countless testimonies of family and friends whose lives have been significantly and positively changed. Ours surely has!
Though our hearts are heavy and life goes on somewhat detached, we are encouraged by the same observation King David made many years ago: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. (Psalm 27:13)
Thank you community of family and friends for reaching out to us. Continue to line the streets in support of those of us who grieve loss.
God bless America … my country ‘tis of thee.
Tom and Jane Zimmerman
Houlton
