This is a part of the Leaving Las Manila series in which we talk about things we’ve missed, things we’ll miss and whatever else comes to mind as we reflect on heading home since arriving here in the Philippines in October of 2005.
I don’t think I’ve honestly talked enough about my cousin Seth and how cool he is. Seth was born twenty days after me (same year and everything) and we grew up as cousins. There is an incident that I will never be able to forget. I don’t actually totally remember it, but my mom and his mom remind us every so often.
We were like six or some young age in the car on our way to something. We passed a river (or was it a lake, heck if I remember) and I (or Seth) remarked, “It’s a lake!”. Then Seth (or I) said, “No, it’s a river!”. The arguement continued all the way up to wherever we were going. On the way back we once more took up the issue only this time we argued opposite of our original position on the ride up.
We were cute kids according to our parents. Now we’re just crazy boys or some such. I grew up as a computer geek and shy kid that did mostly nerdy stuff. Seth grew up as the athletic and more physically active member of the family. TIme passed and we would hang out at reunions and all. We were still close even if our interests were different.
Then Seth did something I never expected him to do and when he did I felt so proud and honored of him that words cannot express even today the feelings and emotions that ran through my heart and mind. Seth joined the Montana State National Guard and ended up serving for a year in Iraq doing work with Operation Iraqi Freedom. When I talked with him before he left I felt tears staining my face. It was a very real thing happening at that very moment to us as a family.
During that year we as a family (Seth is part of the Dahl side of my family, not the DeLay side) feared the moments when the news came on about deaths in Iraq. We would wonder if the today was the day we would get the call that we had lost family. It was hard for us (my mother, father and brother) because we are seperated by nearly 12 hours from Montana where Seth and his family lives. We wanted to be near in case the terrifying reality hit us. We would all need to be close if it did come to pass.
We prayed every day for his safety. I cringed when I would open up Yahoo news. I would fear to read his name or hear about a Montana unit losing a son. But when I would send letters and hear from him it was always, “We’re doing the job we need to do. We’re here for a purpose.” He always kept his focus on doing the right thing.
After his year he returned home. I talked to him on the phone a little since then and have found it hard to express how exactly I felt. Talking to a loved one on the phone is hard when all you want to do is reach out and hug them as hard as you can for as long as time would allow. I wanted so badly to see my cousin in the flesh and just be around him as we all used to do so many years ago.
And yet as life goes on, it gets harder to get together. With me in the Philippines for the last year I’ve missed Christmas and Thanksgiving with the family and the chance to see him again. With my return to Denver about two weeks away I’m hoping to make a trip to see him sometime soon. Then I can shake his hand and give him the biggest hug a cousin can give. It’s hard to build a friendship and a family relationship when you’re eight thousand miles away.
In that time I’ve come to respect and honor my cousin Seth Dahl. I’ve come to look up to him for his struggles and his courage. I’m thankful to have someone like him in my life and I’m hopeful someday he’ll understand what that means.
He’s listed on the Montana Government website as a Hero. To me, he’s so much more than that in my eyes. He’s the greatest guy cousin I could ask for.
Someday I’ll tell you about my cousin who can dance a pretty mean Tango that’d make even Antonio Banderas bow at her feet.
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