For weeks, Muslim Brotherhood protesters have camped out in Cairo and demonstrated against the military ousting of President Morsi. On Wednesday, government forces stormed two of the camps, killing 525 people and injuring 3,717 more.

The delight my family felt at seeing Ben Ownby returned to his parents was almost indescribable – a feeling that we know we share with many.

And to have the "bonus" of Shawn Hornbeck's return as well – it's almost too much, in the most wonderful way imaginable.

It can be cold and wet in December in the scenic valleys of Tennessee, but it is a beautiful setting nonetheless. Not much has changed here in a generation. It's not crowded. The old neighborhoods seem to be unchanging, a pleasant, quiet, small town, unhurried, unbothered in a time when most folks are bustling about.

I suppose it is a sign of growing older when one gets into the habit of reading the obituaries in the newspaper. Especially if you have been in one place for a very long time, you find the names of friends, business associates, and people with whom you have come into contact written up on the obituary pages. It is a sobering reminder of our mortality as human beings.