Many years ago, a 24-year-old British soldier named Stephen Cummins was killed by a car bomb while on active duty in Northern Ireland. He had left an envelope for his parents, to be opened in the event of his death. That envelope contained, among other things, a poem intended to provide hope for his grieving parents:

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
 --Attributed to Mary Frye

(This is the sixth diary in a 24-hour fundraiser for Tom Allen, Democratic Senate Candidate from Maine.)

Welcome to the 7:00-10:00PM EDT edition of the anti-Lieberman fundraiser for Maine Democratic Senate candidate Tom Allen!

Tom represents the state of Maine as Congressman of the 1st district. He's running for Senate against Republican Susan Collins. Joe Lieberman is hosting a fundraiser for Collins this evening, as we speak. The charge? $3000 per plate.

This Round-the-Clock Fundraiser for Tom Allen is intended to help offset the amount that Lieberman is raising for Collins. If you want to know more about why you should consider supporting Tom Allen over Susan Collins, check below the flip for an informal analysis. If you've already decided to contribute, THANK YOU! You can donate at Tom Allen's Act Blue page (if you contribute there we can keep track!), or at his Contribute page on his website. Donate what you can--every single contribution helps!

Sometimes, you read something that just strikes a chord with you. When it comes to death--and especially, to remembering and honoring the lives of people who were taken too soon--one poem/meditation has always spoken loudly to my heart. It's called "We Remember Them," and one powerful stanza reads:

As long as we live, they too will live:
For they are now a part of us,
As we remember them.

That's really it, isn't it. The highest honor we can give to those who have gone is to remember them, for they live on in our memories.

Let's remember together five American soldiers whose deaths were reported on Monday. (The whole poem appears below the fold, in tribute to these brave souls and their friends and families.)