Take the next few days to reflect on the condition of the state of New Hamsphire and the country. Do you like the way things are going? Is the state better off than it was two years ago? Do you agree with how the country has been run over the last four years?

Bow, Dunbarton, Hopkinton and Contoocook, and Concord have faced many challenges – growth, the threat of pollution and potential illness posed by a power plant, preservation of open spaces, state school funding issues, increases in medical and drug costs, crime, etc.

Since Sept. 11, Americans have lost certain liberties in the fight against terrorism. The main effect has been families being torn apart as young men and women go off to war. Some soldiers return, others do not, and some who have returned are not the same – case in point, Dave Guindon, a National Guardsman from Merrimack, took his own life in August two days after returning from Iraq.

Are we safer than we were four years ago? While the Patriot Act was said to protect us, has it only stripped us of some of our civil liberties?

While nominations to the Supreme Court seem distant to us in New Hampshire, it will affect us in every way from rights granted to each state to a woman’s right to choose.

We must decide which road we want our representatives in Concord and Washington to take. If we choose not to vote or do not look into the issues before casting our decisions, we only have ourselves to blame.

­ Susan Clark

Kids should not have to bury kids. They should not have to go to a funeral service and gather together and comfort one another. Their parents should not have to comfort them and try to explain the complex emotion of grief; emotions that they themselves don’t understand.

Katie and Ally Hinck were memorialized at a service on Oct. 20, at St. Catherine’s Church in Manchester.

Kids were there, crying. Parents were there, crying and comforting their children. All wondering why. But no one has the answer.

As I stood outside, waiting in the line of hundreds of people, I noticed how cold I was. I even commented to my friends that I hoped we didn’t get left outside. Then I thought how selfish that was. I was here being able to be cold. Beyond that, it was a beautiful day. One of those beautiful fall days that really lets you appreciate the season. The sky was azure, the deep yellow, red and burnt-orange foliage against it was breathtaking. It made me feel really guilty for complaining.

Later, during a eulogy to her sister, Sandy LeBlanc recalled one of her earliest memories of their young families spending time together. She said they went up to the White Mountains to see the fall foliage. I thought, “How ironic. It’s such a beautiful day. The foliage is so nice. They can’t share that ever again.”

It reminded me how life goes on. Autumn will change and will give way to winter. Sandy continued and spoke of times when they were children and they used to ice skate together. Winter will give way to spring and summer.

Sandy continued to speak and recalled their times together at the beach.

Life goes on. But how do they cope?

Sandy’s daughter, Tanya, recalled the last time she saw Ally. They had spent the day together with their new puppies. She said Ally and Katie had talked them into getting the puppy. She will always remember that day with Ally.

The puppies will grow and time will continue. How ironic Ally won’t be there to see her puppy grow.

We’re all left on this earth to wonder why. The priest at the service said, “We shouldn’t be here today. This should never have happened.”

He’s right. It shouldn’t have happened, but it did.

The turnout at the service lets the family know they’re not alone. Everyone shares in the loss. Loss is person, however, but everyone touched by it feels it. Everyone identifies with it. We pray that won’t be us someday.

For the family, they must know that life will go on, but in a different way.

I went to that service for my dear friend and her family. I spoke with my friend as she spoke about her feelings and her husband’s feelings; he lost his sister.

As I left the service, I knew they would be OK. Never the same, but OK. Their family bond is so strong. The stories they recounted about Katie and Ally spoke volumes of the closeness of this family. The seasons will change, the holidays will come and go. Katie and Ally will live on through stories and the memories. The loss will remain raw, real, but this family will be OK.

Katie and Ally, because their faith, are surely with God now. They are in a better place. It is those of us left on earth that have the raw deal. We’re left to wonder, cope and heal.

Katie and Ally will be missed dearly, as evidenced by the turnout at the service, but they are so much better off than we.