When Stephen was a little boy he was like most boys, played cars with his best friend, skate board, ride his bike and did the normal boy things. He did one thing that carried through his life right to the end and that was collect rocks. He would use his book bag to bring them home and I first found out when I went to put his laundry away and there were no clothes in his dresser drawers but found nothing but rocks. He had put his clothes under his bed to make room for his rocks.   Stephen collected rocks by the places he went, their shape, color and size. He never really knew anything special about them like what kind they were but each rock was special to him.   By the time he was in high school and struggling because of his A.D.D., we decided to pull him out on the condition he had to find another way to finish his education or find a job and pay rent. He decided to join Job Corp and ended up Red Rock in Lopez, Pa. There he worked security, automotive and received his G.E.D. I found out later, he always loved to hang at the waterfalls in the woods and collect rocks there. From there a recruiter had come into his life and he joined the army at 17 and went to boot camp at Ft Sill in Oklahoma.     After boot camp, he was stationed at Ft Drum and his unit name was Alpha Rock Swift and Bold. His unit deployed in August of 2005 and Stephen could not go with them because he had not turned 18 yet. He was upset that he was left behind and many times he would sit outside next to a rock outside his dorm.   Later in November of that year, he joined up with his unit and returned home in April on leave. Before he went back to Iraq he found a rock he liked and left it on my porch. Three days before he was KIA, his picture was taken of him sitting under a rock getting some shade which I have included. The day my 18 year old was flown home, on the side of the plane was two words, THE ROCK.