We gathered in small, always changing groups.

Strangers, family, and friends.

Uncounted words filled the room with copies of the same conversation.

Regrets mingled with the pebbles of ordinary life, to gave rise to our victory cry. Hand-in-hand, we proclaimed, “Life still goes on.”

Thus we denied death his victory.

John Fowler served twenty years in the US Air Force before retiring
and starting a second career in the IT field. He is also a Lay Pastor
serving a small church near his home in Texas. His hobbies include
reading, golfing, writing, and now oil painting.