This story breaks my heart. Here was a romantic man so much in love with his wife that he thoughtfully left her messages hidden around their home before he left for Iraq. He pointed out a star for her to share with him in the heavens so that they could look at it and think of each other thousands of miles away. Now he's dead and for what? What is this war doing to our men and women over there and their families and friends here at home?


A Soldier's Life

Chris Coffin wasn't supposed to be in harm's way in Iraq. He was killed there this month. How the war is straining U.S. soldiers—and haunting those they left at home

First Sergeant Christopher Coffin knew how to stay close to his wife Betsy even when he was far away. Before he left in February, bound for the Persian Gulf, he took her outside on a cold, clear Maine night, pointed to an especially bright star and told her he would be able to see it from Iraq. They could both look at it, and find each other. "Every night when I walked the dog," Betsy says, "I would stop and talk to the star. The dog was so confused; she could tell I was talking to Chris, but she couldn't see him."

After he had left, Betsy began finding notes hidden all around their Kennebunk condo. He had tucked them in the pocket of her jacket, between the cans of dog food, on the bathroom mirror, under her pillow. She has no idea whether she has found them all, in the months since he has been gone.

"I miss doing the laundry with you and helping you hang it up," one said.

"When you take (the dog) to the beach, remember us taking her and how much fun we had," said another.

"Dearest Bets—Right this minute, I'm thinking of you, and smiling." They were signed "Trobs," short for Trouble, her nickname for him since they started dating in college 25 years ago, when she would spot him and say, "Here comes Trouble."

He tried to call from Iraq nearly every day, even just for two seconds...




______________________________________________________________