David Bloom - In His Own Words
Sunday, April 05, 2003
Last email from David Bloom to his wife Melanie:
It's 10a.m. here Saturday morning, and I've just been talking to
my soundman Bob Lapp about his older
brother, whom he
obviously loves and admires very much, who's undergoing
chemotherapy treatment for
Leukemia. Here Bob is - out in the
middle of the desert - and the brother he cares the world for -
who
had been the picture of health, devoted to his wife and
kids, is dying. Bob can't wait to be home to be
with him, and
I can't wait to be home to be with all of you.
You can't begin to fathom - cannot begin to even glimpse the enormity - of the changes I have and
am continuing to undergo. God takes you to the depths of your being - until you are at rock bottom - and
then, if you turn to Him with utter and blind faith, and resolve in your heart and mind to walk only with
Him and toward Him, (He) picks you up by your bootstraps and leads you home.
I hope and pray that all my guys get out of this in one piece. But I tell you, Mel, I am at peace. Deeply saddened
by the glimpses of death and destruction I have seen, but at peace with my God, and with you. I know only
that my whole way of looking at life has turned upside down - here I am, supposedly at the peak of professional
success, and I could frankly care less. Yes, I'm proud of the good job we've all been doing, but - in the scheme of
things - it matters little compared to my relationship with you, and the girls, and Jesus. There is something
far beyond my level of human understanding or comprehension going on here, some forging of metal
through fire.
I shifted my book of daily devotions and prayers to the inside
of my flak jacket, so that it would be
close to my heart, protecting me in a way, and foremost in my thoughts. When the
moment comes when
Jim or John or Christine or Nicole or
Ava or you are talking about my last days, I am determined that
they will say 'he was devoted to his wife and children and he
gave every ounce of his being not for himself,
but for those
whom he cared about most - God and his family.' Save this
note. Look at it a month from now,
a year from now, 10 years
from now, 20 years from now. You cannot know now - nor do I - whether you will look
at it with tears, heartbreak and a sense of anguish and regret over what might have been, or whether you
will say - he was and is a changed man, God did work a miracle in our lives. But I swear to you on
everything that I hold dear - I am speaking the truth to you. And I will continue to speak the truth to
you. And, not to be trite, but that will set me free.
God bless you, Melanie. I love you and I know that you still love me. Please give the girls a big hug
- squeeze 'em tight - and let them know just how much their daddy loves and cares for them.
With love and devotion,
Dave.
Send notes with condolences to David Bloom's family at:
BloomFamily@NBC.com
or
mail to:
The Bloom Family
c/o NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY
10112.
David's friends have established a trust for the benefit of his three
daughters.
Donations in memoriam may be sent to:
David Bloom Children's
Trust
c/o Latham & Watkins
885 3rd Avenue
Suite 1000
New York, NY
10022
For further reading and information:
"Into The Very Presence Of God" Chuck Colson, Townhall, April 17, 2003.
"Remembering David Bloom" MSNBC, April 6, 2003.
"David Bloom, 39, of New York" MSNBC, April 9, 2003.
"Consummate Pro with a Human Touch" Jonathan Alter, Newsweek,
April 6, 2003.
"NBC Correspondent David Bloom Dies in Iraq"
Washington Post, April 6, 2003.
