Joseph Robinette Biden

“ Because as long as you have them, you’ve got Billy. As long as you have them.
You know, my prayer for all of you is that a day will come when you have that memory, and I’ve said, “Just smile before you bring a tear to your eyes.” It’s — I promise you it’s going to come. It just takes a while. It takes a while.
But when it comes, you’ll know, because he’s still with you. He’s still in your heart.
Losing a son, daughter, brother, sister, mom, dad — it’s like losing a piece of your soul. ”

“ But the truth is that a time is going to come, I promise you — not believable now — when a memory, a fragrance, a scene, a circumstance, the way his son tilts his head the way he did when he was that age — it’s going to bring back the memory. And for the longest time, it’s going to feel like, at that moment, that memory — it’s going to feel like you got the phone call just that moment ago. And there are going to be people celebrating Billy’s life. And as much as you appreciate it — all of you — it also is hard; you relive everything again. ”

“ You know, Sergeant Kyle King, I’m sorry you had to make the call — that telephone call that every family dreads when they have a son or daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister in uniform. Because every morning — every morning they pin that badge on, go to work, they expect to come home. ”