I've learned today, so I have grown.

We all look at things from different perspectives. I started the day feeling loss, while reading the Tony Cav tributes. Then the MAVEN post.

There are only two things I still think I know:

1- Tony was loved by a great deal of people. For his friendship, because he was a BOTL, and he was an advocate for taking care of his adopted Marines.

2- Rick Maven has an opinion on things.

I didn't know Tony, and I don't know Rick. Ironically, the first message I read, on the first day I found this site was the "Tony Needs Our Prayers" thread. I read it, thought it was a terrible accident, then I moved on to learning about cigars. Didn't give this 'Tony guy' any more thought than that.

I check in on the forum at least every third day, and I was struck with something- The "Tony" thread was not only pushed to the top regularly, but people continued to add to it. I started looking at some of the past threads he was involved in. This outpouring of thoughts and prayers made more and more sense. It appears he touched so many people, he was a walking talking "Good Will Bomb". Sure looks like he cared about others more than anything else.

When I saw the Rick's 'homo/hell' post, it made me think about Rick. And I actually did think about Rick for a while today- I wanted to not post a knee-jerk response to his (IMO)inappropriate post. Then I began to smile. Its all so clear.

My dad has always said "you learn more while listening, than you do while talking". These two individuals couldn't be more different.

One man let his actions and love for the Marines and his fellow man do the talking. The other guy seems to love his keyboard (specifically his CAPS LOCK) and talks a lot.

Depending on the day, the guy that is still walking this earth with us either needs a hug, or a kick in the arse.

Rick, if your mission is to be thought provoking, and you have no other personal agendas, you have done your job today. You made me think.

Thank you.

there ya go, Rick has done his job...