12of 13, and praying for just one more...

Recovering and bringing home the body is just so important in some cultures. The dignity of the dead. Maybe it's a uniquely American trait, one associated with people who live on the land -- who really live in their bodies, more so than others who live more in their minds...

You think of the Utah miners, over 100 miners in China, the MIA's still mourned from Vietnam, the decision to stop sifting through the rubble at Ground Zero... Hard choices, but in each case you understand the pain and need in wanting to bring the body home. Maybe, good Lord willing, Mrs. Jolstad will get her wish:

MINNEAPOLIS - Lisa Jolstad's worst fear since the interstate bridge collapse was that her husband would still be missing in the Mississippi River after all the other victims of the disaster had been found. That's exactly what happened. But searchers who returned to the water Monday plan to keep looking for construction worker Greg Jolstad, even though he could have been swept away forever down the river.
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Greg Jolstad, 45, was part of a crew resurfacing the bridge when it fell. He was driving a piece of construction equipment called a skid loader, which is most commonly known by the brand name Bobcat. Kathryn Janicek, spokeswoman for Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek said finding Jolstad's body remained the top priority of the recovery operation.

"You need to know that those guys are back in the water this morning, and we're not giving up," Janicek said Monday. "They're continuing 24-7 to find him, period. Hopefully we'll have very good news soon."

Janicek said the county would not reveal if searchers have located Jolstad's skid loader. Recently they found several sets of human remains in cars, but the type of machinery Jolstad was operating typically is only partially enclosed. Stanek has said that areas downstream from the bridge are also subject to search in case any victims were swept from the collapse site by the river current.
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Greg Jolstad was one of 18 construction workers on the bridge working for Progressive Contractors Inc. The other 17 survived the collapse. Seven of them suffered injuries, but none critical.

Jolstad had worked for PCI for 10 years, often commuting 90 miles one way to road jobs in the Twin Cities from his home in the central Minnesota town of Mora. Lisa and Greg Jolstad were married in 1995 and lived with Lisa's three teenage children from a previous marriage in a 97-year-old farmhouse north of town where Greg Jolstad grew up.

"Greg never wanted to venture far from home," Lisa Jolstad said.
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She found out early Sunday that divers had found the body of the 12th victim, Scott Sathers, 29. That made Greg Jolstad the only person still known to be missing after the Aug. 1 collapse. Jolstad said families of other victims have sent word through police contacts that they are concerned for Jolstad.
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A tax assessor currently between jobs, Lisa Jolstad is living for now on her husband's paycheck, which PCI has continued to issue, as well as paying for grief counselors for family members.

"Everyone at the company is just heartsick for Greg's family," said David Lillehaug, PCI's attorney.

Lisa Jolstad said she's trying to keep occupied by getting the farmhouse ready for winter. "I sit home every night, and I just can't believe he's not coming home," she said. "I look out the back door window and it's weird not to see his truck out there. I look out the bathroom window at the sky and know he's up there, and I say, you know, why did you have to leave, Greg?"

Bringing home the bodies. It's never easy work. But surely it sobers us. And soberness, dignity, humility and respect: superbad, sure, lest we forget...

Someday, our best and brightest may even understand. Dignity for the dead means caring about those still living. Respecting the dead brings respect for life, right?