She might have descended into incurable grief. She might have allowed herself to be overcome with bitterness or resentment. She might have made it her mission to oppose the war in Afghanistan and to petition to bring the troops home immediately instead. But she didn’t. Hats off to Miss Madeline Cates, who will deploy in the same month she would have gotten married — had her fiancé not been killed in Afghanistan. What a reminder that one of the most powerful ways to honor our fallen is to finish the mission they started!