"The Times Have Changed"
It was a cool day in the middle of Spring. In Georgetown, Alabama an elderly man sat at a park bench, reminiscing about his days from when he was younger. About to tell a new generation his past.
"Excuse me sir," said an unknown voice, "what's wrong?"
I opened my eyes and saw a young and pretty lady, a handsome young man, most likely her boyfriend, I can tell he is in the military just from the way he stands and his hair cut, and a little boy, her younger brother I presumed, staring at me with curious eyes. I must look as if I am about to cry.
"Nothing is wrong , I was simply reminiscing," I said.
"Reminiscing?" the boy asked in confusion.
"Yes, you see, today is the day that my wife passed away a decade ago, in 1997," I said, with the faintest hint of sorrow in my voice. But the days have passed and I have learned to live without until we are to be reunited with each other in heaven.
"Oh, I am sorry to hear that," said the young lady, very polite and mannered. Not something you see often in this new generation of children.
"Do not be," I said with a smile growing on my face. "She is in a better place now."
"What was she like?" asked the young man. Finally showing some sign of life, other than just standing there watching the scenes unfold before him.
"Ahh, she was sweet and compassionate, always seemed to understand me even when I myself did not. And she was no dummy either, far from it in fact. She was one of the smartest people I knew." I answered with slight adoration lining my voice. "Would you like to hear the story of how we fell in love?" I asked.
"Are you sure it is not a problem?" The young lady asked.
"Not a problem at all," I said.
"Then we would love to," she responded.
"Well, it all started in 1940, at the beginning of World War II," I began.
"Thomas, what are you doing?" asked Karen, my sister.
"I am going to tell Delia that I have enlisted in the Marines and am being deployed to Germany next week," I said with pride.
"You what! Thomas you can't, Father will never let you!" she said.
Maybe I should have rethought my approach to telling her, since she obviously didn't respond to it the way I had thought she would.
"Father can't do a thing about it because I am eighteen and am a free person to do with my life with which I choose," I replied a bit smugly.
"He will save you the trouble of going to war to get killed and kill you himself!" she said.
"And what makes you so sure that I will get killed?" I replied. She stood there, speechless. I have won this battle. "Well if you have nothing more to say to say to me then I am off to tell Delia and Father the news." I said and turned on my heel to leave. But as I left she said one more thing.
"You know as well as I do that neither of those conversations will end well for any of us."
Perhaps I spoke too soon about my victory.
As I approach my father in his study I cannot help but think of all the things that he could do to me and I pray that he is in a good mood.
"Ahh, Thomas, what brings you here son?" he asks while staying focused on his work.
"Father," I say, my voice betraying me as I unsuccessfully try to hide my nervousness. "Father, I have some news."
I pause.
"Well get on with it boy, I don't have all day," he says.
"Father I have enlisted in the Marines," I tell him in a rush. He stops, his pen dropping to the table. He sits there unmoving and for a moment I fear that something is wrong. But then he begins to move and I brace myself for the explosion that is about to come.
"What!" he said, rising abruptly from his seat at his desk. "I forbid you! This is unacceptable! What has possessed you!" he said, his face red with fury.
"It is my decision Father, I am eighteen and am a free person. You can no longer tell me what to do," I replied weakly, trying not to show my fear. I can tell he is surprised by my response. But his response surprises my even more.
"Well if that is how you feel then there is nothing I can do about that. However, you are a free person of the age of eighteen as you said, an age at which it is acceptable for one to be thrown out of their home. Good luck finding a place to live," he says abruptly and quickly sits back down and returns to his work.
"Father," I say, "you must be joking, you can't be serious."
"Thomas, I would appreciate it if you could leave me to my work now, I am quite busy," said my father, trying to avoid what he had just said.
"All right, I am leaving next Tuesday morning, at six," I said, knowing he will be there. I just hope Delia will take it better than my father and Karen did.
There she is. Sitting by the lake in her white silk dress that goes down to her knees, with her shoulder length blonde hair down.
She looked at me with her green eyes and smiled as I walked towards her. I smiled back but she could tell that something was wrong.
"Hello," she said, "what is wrong?" She can read me like a book.
"Nothing, I just have some news," I say, while sitting down, my smile faltering a bit. I hope she doesn't notice, but of course she does. She notices everything about me.
"What kind of news?" she asks, her smile disappearing.
"The kind that you probably won't like," I reply, trying to lighten the mood. But it doesn't seem to work since she sort of glares at me. "Sorry," I say. I sigh, I suppose I should get on with it. "I have enlisted in the Marines and am being deployed to Germany next week," I say, praying she will take it better than I know she will. And then, as her face grows red with fury, something totally unexpected, a slap to the face.
"How could you! How could you be so selfish and not think of how this would effect me!" she says, clearly not happy.
And then I make the mistake of saying this, "Well last time I checked risking you life for your country wasn't selfish." Which just earns me another slap, which I probably wouldn't have gotten had it not been meant as a smart remark said with a bit of a smile on my face because I was trying to lighten the mood still. Which probably wasn't a good move on my part.
"Well if it was such a noble decision on your part then why can't you be serious about it?" she said.
I don't respond, partially because I don't want to get slapped again, but mostly because she is right.
"That's what I thought," she says. She gets up and begins to walk away.
"I leave next Tuesday morning, I hope you come to see me off," I yell. And I pray that she will come.
The next week goes by too quickly. It is already time to leave. Karen and my father see me off. Just like I knew they would. And right before I get on the bus I take one last look around and see through the corner of my eye the blur of a fleeing girl with blonde hair in a white knee length dress. I smile, happy that she came.
"Greenhouse!" yells my sergeant. Pvt. Thomas Greenhouse. That's me.
"Ya Sarg?" I yell back so I can be heard over the sound of gunfire and missiles and rockets being shot.
"You and Rivers to go through the side and flank the Germans while me and Pvt. Collins push through from the front," he screams the order.
"Yes Sir. Rivers lets go!" I yell, Rivers makes his way over to me and we start for the side of the building.
"I'll spare you the details, Rivers and I were taken. Classified as MIA for four years. Rivers didn't make it. And as for the Sarg and Collins, well your can guess what happened. I don't know for sure though. I could have found out if I wanted to, all I had to do was ask. But I guess I just didn't want to have what I already knew to be confirmed, so I could always have that hope. They didn't have a chance. And I shouldn't have had one either. The fact that I am sitting here talking to you kids is a miracle," I paused and looked at the young lady, a look of astonishment on her face. Then at the young man, a look of understanding on his face, he has been in combat before. And then I looked at the little boy, he was just happy to be hearing a story, weather he understood or not. "Anyway," I continued, "back to the story."
"Oh Thomas, thank god you are okay, oh it's been so long," said Karen. It has been the first time I have seen anyone I know in four years. It is 1944 and for the last four years I have been shut off from the world. If someone asked me for the year I would probably say I don't know. It doesn't feel like 1940, but I don't know what 1944 feels like. Although I suppose it feels like this.
"Hello Karen, Father. It's good to see you again," I say. Still a little shocked at all the changes. And then something that has not happened since my mother's funeral when I was little, my father hugged me and I could feel tears escape his eyes. It seems as if the whole town is here to see me home. Everybody except for one person. Delia. "Karen, where is Delia?"
She stops her sobs of joy and her smile fades away. I know that things are different.
"Thomas, she…" she stops, trying to find the right words. "While you were gone, she found someone to comfort her, and…, and well, now he is more than a friend." Her words hit hard. Like I was just sucked under water. I felt like I couldn't breath.
And then I saw her. With him. She was with him when she was supposed to be with me. I started to walk towards them.
"Thomas," Karen yelled. She was yelling after me. But I couldn't hear her. I was to focused on Delia.
"Delia," I said. She stopped. She knew it was me. She turned around and we stared at each other.
"The days went by fast. I didn't see Delia for a while." I told them as they watched intently. "But she came to see me one day and what she told me was surprising. She said that what there was between her and the one she was with when I was her Last was over. She said she loved me and that she only wanted to be with me. And then she confirmed what she said with a kiss," I finished.
"That's so sweet," said the young lady, "but we should probably get going now, it is getting late and my mother will start to worry, "she said. "Goodbye."
"It was nice to meet you," said the young man, extending his hand. I shook it happily.
"Bye," said the little boy.
"Goodbye," I replied and watched them walk off.