Bloggers note: This week, you’ll hear from Jonathan Ward, Abigail’s brother. Though he may be considered a secondary player, none of Abigail’s adventures could have happened without him. Now, he’ll tell you a little bit about himself and his close relationship with his sister.

Okay, so I understand that I’m supposed to tell you a little bit about myself. Before we get into it, a quick warning. I may have to get up and leave suddenly. Why? Well, I’m Chief Operating Officer at our compound here in the Ghazni Province, eastern Afghanistan. I’m Skyping from my office, and sometimes, things can go awry.

So you have that picture I sent of me? Great. That’s probably the one time I’ve dressed up in a suit for anything here in Afghanistan. We were in Kabul meeting with some VIPs, so I had to look decent. But anyway, what you can’t see is that I’m an even six feet. I’ve got the blond hair going on, though it’s got gray in it now, which is one of the many reasons why I keep it short. I’m a guy, so that’s really all I care about.

I enjoy my work here in Ghazni. Truly, I do, but it can be high stress sometimes. That’s one of the reasons why I’m in the gym practically every day. It keeps me sane, and believe me when I say that being fit may save my skin one day. What do we do here? Mainly, we supply protection for anyone convoying to places in this part of the country. That can run from doctors on medical missions, to well surveyors, to international aid folks. We take our job seriously, and I can say that we haven’t lost anyone since I’ve been COO. Thankfully.

Oh, and unexpectedly, here is where I met my girlfriend, Christine. She’s actually one of the protective detail workers. Don’t worry. We know all about the no-fraternization policy, so we’ve had to keep things on the down-low and do our best to limit our romance to when we’re on leave together. Still, we’ve been sneaking more and more kisses lately. I’m planning on proposing to her when we go on leave in a few weeks.

She and my sister are the two women in my life right now. You see, I lost Mom and Dad in a car crash about six years ago. Wrong-way drunk driver and let’s leave it at that. Everyone died at the scene. So Abigail’s all I have left in terms of family. When we get together, we do, be it in Raleigh or somewhere else. Honestly, she was my rock when everything happened in 2009 when I was with Special Forces in Afghanistan. And I know I’ve been her rock before as well. She knows about Christine, and she also knows about some of the characters here at the compound. I like to believe the best about those characters. Let’s hope I’m not wrong about them.

I have not received any compensation for writing this post. The work mentioned in this post is of my own writing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255:
Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”