Reporter Editor David Goodhue shared this family memory last year about the meaning of Veterans Day. The letter, edited for space here, was written by Olivia Loncki, his niece, after learning her sister, Sr. Airman Elizabeth Loncki, was killed in Iraq.</p><p>I was 11 when it happened. Those seven words that just killed me, "Your sister Elizabeth died in Iraq today."</p><p>My mom and I were driving home and we were talking. I am not aware of how the conversation started, but I remember when a song came on, and my mom said that it would be perfect for my sister's father/daughter dance at her wedding, which would happen soon. </p><p>Her boyfriend, Jayson, was coming up that week to ask my dad for permission to marry my sister. We were pulling up in the driveway and there was a car in front of our house. </p><p>That's when I saw my dad crying and people standing around him in suits.</p><p>I automatically knew something was wrong because he had never cried except for the day he found out he was cured of cancer (but those were happy tears). Then my dad told us. I thought I was in a dream but more like a nightmare.</p><p>This couldn't be happening to me, I thought, and then water started to trickle down my face. More like puddles. I was bawling. I threw myself onto the couch, and my parents came rushing over and we were all hugging. I just thought that the whole world had ended and I was still trapped. It was terrible. </p><p>Finally, my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles came over. My cousins were embracing me crying. We were all so close to Liz. We all thought that this was impossible; she was expected to come home from Iraq in only two weeks. </p><p>I ran upstairs and grabbed a picture of Liz, and I just sat on my bed holding it closely and crying. The next day people kept coming over my house to show their condolences and that they felt our family's pain. I knew they didn't.</p><p>It was hard. Without my friends and family, I wouldn't have made it. </p><p>At the wake, my family and I stood at the front of the church while hundreds of people came to show their support. The line went all around New Castle and it went on for hours. The next day was the funeral.</p><p>After those very important and memorable days, my family and my friends have all gotten closer. I don't know if they will read this, but I want them to know that they mean the world to me and I wouldn't have survived without them. Any fights that I have with my friends and family are no longer top priority because friends should learn to forgive and forget, but I will never forget about what happened to Liz.</p><p>I know Liz is watching over me now, and that she will protect our family. She told us that she just wanted to save a life, but she saved many and lost her own. I am proud to say that she is my sister, and I am even more proud to say that she is a hero.</p><p>People say that God only takes the lives because He wants the special people with Him, but I think He wants the angels, and that's why He took Liz.