War Story

I will never forget the day I watched the love of my life disappear right before my very eyes. It was a cold crisp winter day. October 30^th 2023. Our nine year anniversary. Instead of getting all dressed up and going out to dinner I went to the docks and watched him board that naval ship and it sailed away. Before he left I hugged him so tightly and begged him to stay. He knew as well as I, that was not an option. He tried to fight back the tears but alas, he couldn’t bear it any longer. As he looked into my eyes from a cold distance he started to tear up. He ran back to hug me and cried into my shoulder. We both stood there crying knowing that this moment was about to be ripped away from us and I would never see him again. Every chance he got he wrote to me telling me how he was and how much he loved me and how he would return home soon. I always replied whether it be about the kids or how I or my parents are doing or even how well the flowers look this spring. Even if I had nothing to say, I never missed a day to write back. Every time the mail came I would always find a letter from him. This was a very frequent thing. Until one day I stopped receiving letters from him. He had been gone for months. He missed Christmas, Birthdays, Weddings, Funerals, etc. It could have been so easy to forget him if my heart didn’t call for him every single night. I would toss and turn begging for his safe return. Ever since he left I have had a giant hole in my heart that grew more unbearable the longer he had been gone. Then one day my heart gave up. I couldn’t even get up anymore in the mornings to take care of the kids. I just lay in bed crying all day. Life just got to the point where it wasn’t worth living anymore. I missed the love of my life and I had to raise a family alone. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t eat, sleep, anything. But at the lowest point in my life I heard a knock at the door. I open it and there standing in the doorway was a tall man in a Navy uniform smiling at me. I almost fainted. He opens his arms and says “Baby I’m back! This time for good!” and he wraps his arms around me gently and picks me up into his arms. That was the happiest moment I’ve had in a long time. My husband has returned to me alive and well. The next few years went by fast. The kids grew up and went off to college and him and I packed up and moved to a quiet vineyard in Venice Italy where we will live together until death do us part.