A Promise To An Old Friend

Margaret stared out the windshield of her car as the endless miles passed by. She still could hardly believe she was doing this. Her car pointed northward; she headed toward an unknown, uncertain future.

She'd been back from Korea for five years, but it was only in the past two months that she had truly begun to take control of her life. Despite her big speech at the 4077th farewell banquet, within weeks of being stateside she had fallen back into her old pattern of letting her father dictate her actions, and to a great extent, control her life.

Al Houlihan had accepted her working at Fort Sam Houston, and had even moved to San Antonio to be closer to her. Margaret made no objections. Within six months, her father had called in some favors and she was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Shortly after that, her father steered her toward another lieutenant colonel that he'd befriended. Margaret acquiesced to her father's urgings and the two began dating.. Al Houlihan smiled with pride and a certain amount of smugness. Things were going exactly as he wanted them to.

After a year of dating, Margaret found herself in a small base chapel, being married to Lt. Col. Kevin Delaney, her father beaming from his seat. As she repeated her vows in a voice as clinical and dispassionate as that which she used in the O. R., something seemed to dry up within her.

Her mind flew back to her wedding in Korea. She remembered the wedding gown, compliments of Kilinger; Col. Potter's solemn face, compliments of a tremedous hangover; Radar's clumsy redition of "The Wedding March" and Father Mulcahy presiding over it all. Even foreshortened as it had been due to the arrival of casualties, it had been more romantic, more real than this wedding was.At least then, the two being married had professed to love each other, whether they truly did or not.Here, one was marrying to please her father, while the other was marrying for what that father might be able to do for his career.

After the wedding they took a brief honeywoon trip to Galveston, where it rained every day. Not a promising start to a marriage. The sex was obligatory and perfunctory. Margaret realized that she'd shared more true passion with Frank Burns than she did with Kevin, and slowly but surely her emotions froze up inside her.

For over four years, Margaret stayed in this loveless union. Her father pulled some more strings, and Kevin made colonel. When he began to cheat on her, Margaret felt mostly relief that her marital obligation was at an end. She thanked heaven every day that there had been no children. As much as she wanted kids, she didn't want them with Kevin.

For four years, Margaret had been an automaton, working at the hospital during the day, enduring her loveless marriage at night. Then, two months ago"Howitzer Al" Houlihan had died. he'd been found dead in a cheap motel with an even cheaper hooker. When the reality of it hit Margaret, instead of sorrow, she felt an immense freedom. Now, with her father gone, she could truly be her own person.

On the day her father was buried, she instituted divorce proceedings against Kevin. He did not contest/ She settled her father's estate, then sat down to do some hard thinking about her life, and in her mind a warm, friendly voice admonished her gently:

I know you've got your career all planned out, but don't forget to have a happy life, too.

Colonel Potter's parting words. She remembered them as if he'd spoken them only yesterday. And she'd promised him she would. She came to the decision that it was time for her to honor that promise. She resigned her commission, settled her affairs in San Antonio, said goodbye to the few acquaintances she'd made, and climbed into her car to find the one man who had meant more to her, good and bad, than any other in her life.