Fallen

As we walk our path of life,

We meet people everyday.

Most are simply met by chance.

But some are sent our way.

These become special friends

Whose bond we can't explain,

The ones who understand us

And share our joy and pain.

Their love contains no boundaries.

So even when we are apart.

Their presence enhances us

With a warmth felt in the heart.

This love becomes a passageway,

When even the miles disappear.

And so these friends,

God sends our way,

Remain forever near.

The poem above from an unknown author was sent by my colleague to the family of another colleague who recently lost his life in a tragic shooting and hostage incident in Tikrit, Iraq.  He was a Reuters photographer and journalist who was reporting on gunmen attacking a local government building in the area.  He was shot and killed along with 52 other people and a hundred other injured (it was all over the news yesterday).

Today, our entire company spent 5 minutes of silence--no calls, no meetings, no talking with anybody, to pay tribute to a fallen colleague and say a prayer for his grieving family.

I didn't know him, of course, but this message from his manager brought me and I'm sure so many others to tears: “When I worked with him, at a time when Iraq seemed to be descending ever deeper into bloody chaos, life to Sabah seemed somehow joyful. I remember him showing up late one night, unannounced, at the Reuters bureau in Baghdad which felt under siege. It was Dec. 31 but we had little cause to celebrate. What brought him down to the city on a frightening night like this, we asked. 'Happy New Year!' he laughed, offering presents all around. It was a generosity in Sabah which we shall all remember amid the sadness.”

His name was Sabah al-Bazee, only 30 years old and he died doing his job--capturing a story so we all would know what's happening in his side of the world.  He was the third Reuters journalist who died tragically in the line of duty in the last 12 months.

It is heartbreaking to see people die through natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis, but it's more heartbreaking to see people die in the hands of fellow mankind, in the midst of violence, greed and unresolved conflicts.