She's just another girl now, another face in the crowed. A girl opposed to no hope. Yet she doesn’t let this get her down. Rose, who is 8 years old who stands just under 4 foot 6 and has sandy blond hair and baby blue eyes always seen with a smile upon her face trailing not to far behind her older brother David who she considers her idol, always finds the hope in her heart knowing her dad will come home. David who is 13 and stands just over 5foot 3 and has blond hair with light blue eyes, almost always happy letting his little sister trail along, taking her to the park, to see movies and even thought her to ride a bike while there father was away at war. Keeping his sisters faith alive although sometimes it to is hard for him to keep hope. Sometimes people treat them as if he will not come home. At church they tell them "we’ll pray for your family." When their eyes are saying "Were sorry for your loss." yet he is not gone. They just have no hope because war gives them none. Somehow though, rose finds some. It comes from her heart and the strength she is impowerd by, the very day her family picks up her father up at the airport she proved this. And by all odds she knows her father has made it. And by the very strength she is in willed with she runs up to her dad "rosy!" he yell's grinning from ear to ear as he picks her up getting an unexpected tight bear-hug from his little girl. "Are you ready to go home?" he asks. "Yes, daddy!" she responds visibly choked up in emotion. As they start to walk out of the airport sliding doors [ her mother, baby brother, and brother David not far behind them] her still holding on to her father that very second she became the voice of the forgotten and unforgotten shouting "till' they all come home." Tears rolling down from her eyes to the airport ground leaving her words to echo in the minds of young and old. Everybody in the airport suddenly stopped it got quiet, mothers and children, aunts and uncles, friends and family, young and old all started to cry the only people who did not cry however was the soldiers who all stood straight still in their uniforms all facing the young girl. Her father puts her down, looks at her straight and yells out a drill. Every soldier looks at her, hands at their heads. Her father shouts another drill moments later all 100 soldiers saluted her then looked down as her father yelled "dismissed." then he picked up his little girl and says “let’s go." .

"intill they all come home." rose once again said in a voice not her own but in a type of whisper, that seemed to echo and shake everyone around her as, they too whispered it.this time it no soldiers saluted her, no one cried tears of joy over the return of their loved one. She soon found herself starting to cry. Her once deep baby blue eyes seemed gray filled with sadness and guilt. Shaken to her soul’s core, she couldn’t take it anymore. She started to run, not caring about the whispers behind her. She didn’t care what people thought. Knowing her brother was now gone her life felt meaningless he had been the sparkle in her life.

3 years ago she had said those words [intill they all come home] because her father had made it home...alive...now she had said them because her loving older brother hadn’t. Almost a week ago had she found out the bad news but that was only half the story. She had found out there had been a road side bombing and her brother was hurt in it. It wasn’t intill 3 days later that she found out her brother wasn’t only hurt but dead. Her worst fears had come to life; she had never felt a worse pain in her life like the one she was feeling at that moment. She had never imagined life without her brother, he wasn’t like any other brother he was kind and loving. They never fought, instead they worked together played together and even helped each other when the other needed comfort or help. Despite their four and a half age difference they had always been extremely close for brother and sister. Seeing the empty casket only made things harder, for her and everyone else. It had brought back the terrible pain of losing one to war, because after the bombing only ashes where found of him.

Rose still running drops to her knees. Trying to make since of everything, she puts her head to her knees, arms covering her face, she stays that way, crying for a bit. When suddenly she hears a voice. Still crying she looks up. "David?" she said as she saw what appeared to be her brother still in his camouflage uniform. Only she noticed how he looked more anglec in his uniform then he had any other time. "How can this be?" she asked not believing her eyes. "I’ve come back, to thank you!" David said. "For being my voice, the voice I no longer have. I love you sis. You have inspired me so much and I hope I’ve done the same. My life may have not been long but it was not wasted. You were always there when I need you. Whether or not I had mom or dads support you were there and for that I could never thank you enough. Please never forget me, for I will always be with you in your heart." David said choking back his sadness. "I love you too." She choked out over come with a mixture of feelings from what she realized would be her brother and hers last conversation. Suddenly, she extends her right arm reaching for him but she touches nothing but air. Her eyes red with tears, her brain messed up and fumbled, she finds the strength [despite the emotional pain she is encountering] to say "till they all come home." Her words filled with meaning, and like that her brother saluted her and was gone.

"Rosie!" her father yelled as he ran up to her. "Are you okay?"

"Dad is it my fault David’s dead?" she blurts out.

"Rosie, why would you even ask me that?"

"Because!" she screamed "David went to Iraqi because of me. Remember 4 years ago, when I was 12? That year you came home and I told David you would be so proud of him if he went and served our country just like you did and that next year he went. Dad it’s my fault David’s dead!" rose yelled breaking out in a sob

"Rosie, sweetheart it’s not." he said as he pulled her into his arms. "It was no one’s fault. David wanted to serve before you even told him that, he wanted to since he was five. Honey we had no way of knowing this was going to happen, but David wanted to go. He knew the risks he was taking but he wanted to keep people safe and try and make the world better."

"I should have stopped him though, I should have told him not to go."

"That wouldn’t have changed anything David wouldn’t have changed his mind. You know that."

"I miss him so much already dad. It hurts.

“I know honey. I miss him too. Let’s go back now. Ok? David wouldn’t want you to be beating yourself up inside like this." he said as he walked towards the crowed of family and friends all gathered around paying their respects and giving there condolences.

Later on after the funeral, after her and her family went home, rose laid on her bed and thought about her encounter with her brother. Not daring to tell a soul knowing no one would believe her. That night as she lay in her bed and thought she realized what a blessing it was to have one last chance with her brother. She vowed that day to support all troops, and live each day as her last.

The next few days may not have been the worst out of the last month but they were still hard on rose, trying to deal with the loss of her brother, family, friends, and school was more than over whelming. It was hard. Losing her brother was hard but the hardest part was saying good bye when they laid him to rest. The moments before David left to catch his plane to be sent off, kept replaying in roses mind, like a cd stuck on replay. It made rose sick, to be re-living the moments over and over. making her wish she could go back and tell him not to go, warn him of what his fate had in store for him. But there was nothing she could do. As time went on dealing with the loss of her brother seemed less hard. To keep his memory’s alive and to feel closer to him rose soon decided to enlist in the army, 3days after her 18th birthday. She then was sent to boot camp to under-go her training. it was tuff no doubt, that there was more than enough physical pain to go around, but rose a fighter like her brother pushed on because she knew it’d all be worth it and at the end of the day not only did she feel close to her brother she also felt proud of herself because she knew once training was over and done with she would be saving the life of others and making the world a better place for generations to come.

Months later rose found herself upon Iraqi grounds fighting in the war, seeing things that she never imagined. Sometimes getting in situations where she didn’t know whether or not if she was going to come home. at times like that she felt closest to her brother, feeling as if his strength was running through her veins, like he was behind her telling her to fight on because her life is far from over. And that’s why she says she made it out alive, because her brother was watching over her, as her guardian angel.

Rose served for two years after she turned 18. [Till 20] then sonly after settled to start a family of her own with her fiancé Jordan. That next year, on the 3rd annervirsry of her brother’s death, they welcomed David Trevor Allen into the world. on some days when she’s alone she likes going back in her mind remembering that many years ago when a few words changed her life forever. She lives by these words:
WE ARE FREE AND FOREVER SHALL WE REMAIN FREE

Rose refuses to forget about her all American brother and she never will forget him, for she is too proud of the life he had and the things he did.

As David would say: there is no better way to live life then the way you want to live it.











And

There is no prouder woman then a woman that is free but there is no free'er person then a marine....

TILL THEY ALL COME HOME.......

Dedicated to all that have lost their lives to protect us, and all that fought for us forever shall you remain in my heart and the hearts of others as well. Also I would like to dedicate this to all of whom lost their lives on that very fateful day in USA history. Those who lost and survived nine eleven you will never be forgotten and will always be in my heart as well as your families too. My heart goes out to you.....