You Always Remember...
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Romance › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
6
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1,418
Reviews:
9
Recommended:
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Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Romance › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
6
Views:
1,418
Reviews:
9
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
Chapter Six
Chapter Six
“And that’s my story dear. Now you know.”
“Wow grandma. I never knew that you were capable of so much.”
I laughed at that comment. To my granddaughter, I would always be an old woman full of wrinkles and wisdom. She never knew me as a vivacious young lady who loved with all her heart and who knew a thing or two about pleasing the man she loved.
“And this was all with grandpa? I’ll never be able to look at him the same way ever again I don’t think.”
Her eyes were wide with laughter and wonder. She looked so much like me when I was her age that it was almost as if I was looking into the past. It pained me so much to tell her the next part.
“No, Samantha, Oliver wasn’t your grandfather.”
She gave me a confused look. I could see her young mind working over the facts and trying to compute what I just told her.
“Then who was he?” she asked after several minutes.
“He was the first man I truly loved. I never even loved Matt in that way. At the time I thought that he would be the father of all my children, grandfather to even more, but it wasn’t meant to be.” I could feel the swelling of emotion in my chest. I knew the question that was coming next.
“What happened?”
I took a deep breath and let it out, hoping to calm myself before answering her. “Oliver and I were married and the wedding was just as I had imagined it would be. It was a midnight ceremony in the garden at his parent’s farm the next summer. There were candles all over for light and I was a vision of loveliness in my simple, but elegant, white dress. Oliver wore a black suit, no tie, and his hair was mussed to perfection.
“There were only family and close friends at the ceremony and the moment we said ‘I do’, shooting stars raced across the night sky. It was really a sight to behold. It seemed as though even the heavens were happy for us.”
“It all sounds so romantic, but that doesn’t answer my question grandma. What happened?”
“Patience is a virtue Samantha. I was just getting to that. Now, where was I? Oh yes; now I remember. After the ceremony, there was the cutting of the cake and then everyone went home. It was really too late at that point for us to even have a reception then, it was held the next afternoon. At least, it was supposed to be. You see, in the months before the wedding, there had been the war raging across the ocean between China and the United States. We all had thought that it would end soon, but that morning they called every able-bodied man to fight. Oliver didn’t have a choice in the matter. He had to leave that very afternoon and we called the reception off.
“When he first left, I received a letter every other day, sometimes one or two every day. But as time wore on and the war became worse, the letters started to dwindle down to one a week, one every other week, one a month, and then they stopped all together. The last letter I received from Oliver was telling me how much he wanted to come home to me and to our child.”
“You were pregnant,” said Samantha, cutting me off. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. A month after he left I found out. I was in my fourth month of pregnancy when the letters stopped coming. Then, just as I was entering into my sixth month, I was already as big as I house let me tell you, there was a knock on the apartment door. I remember that I jumped to my feet, hoping with all my heart it was Oliver. But it wasn’t. I wasn’t even close. I opened the door to find an officer all right, but it wasn’t him. It was the poor man who had to go every day and tell women that their son or husband had been killed in battle. He handed me Oliver’s identification tags and his possessions. I dropped to the floor, my knees unable to hold me up any longer.
“The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital. My hands went immediately to my stomach, only to find it flatter than it had been in months. My first hope was that they delivered a healthy baby while I was out, a little small probably, but I would have my last link to Oliver. I was devastated when the doctors told me that there had been nothing that they could have done. The baby had gone into shock when I had and it resulted in my son dieing. I cried for weeks after that. I stopped eating, I couldn’t sleep and my parents eventually forced me to go and see a therapist.
“It was when I was leaving to my first appointment when I met your grandfather on the stairs of my building. It took over a year for us to have our first date and even longer for me to accept his proposal, but if I hadn’t you would be here right now.”
Samantha had tears in her eyes. “Oh grandma, I never knew. I’m so sorry.”
I smiled at her and took her hand in mine. “Don’t be,” I said, “I was lucky to fall in love twice in my life. Now that I’m old and your grandfather is gone I have the memories to keep with me until I am reunited with all those I have lost. It is the memories that keep you sane Samantha, remember that always.”
After all, you always remember...
“And that’s my story dear. Now you know.”
“Wow grandma. I never knew that you were capable of so much.”
I laughed at that comment. To my granddaughter, I would always be an old woman full of wrinkles and wisdom. She never knew me as a vivacious young lady who loved with all her heart and who knew a thing or two about pleasing the man she loved.
“And this was all with grandpa? I’ll never be able to look at him the same way ever again I don’t think.”
Her eyes were wide with laughter and wonder. She looked so much like me when I was her age that it was almost as if I was looking into the past. It pained me so much to tell her the next part.
“No, Samantha, Oliver wasn’t your grandfather.”
She gave me a confused look. I could see her young mind working over the facts and trying to compute what I just told her.
“Then who was he?” she asked after several minutes.
“He was the first man I truly loved. I never even loved Matt in that way. At the time I thought that he would be the father of all my children, grandfather to even more, but it wasn’t meant to be.” I could feel the swelling of emotion in my chest. I knew the question that was coming next.
“What happened?”
I took a deep breath and let it out, hoping to calm myself before answering her. “Oliver and I were married and the wedding was just as I had imagined it would be. It was a midnight ceremony in the garden at his parent’s farm the next summer. There were candles all over for light and I was a vision of loveliness in my simple, but elegant, white dress. Oliver wore a black suit, no tie, and his hair was mussed to perfection.
“There were only family and close friends at the ceremony and the moment we said ‘I do’, shooting stars raced across the night sky. It was really a sight to behold. It seemed as though even the heavens were happy for us.”
“It all sounds so romantic, but that doesn’t answer my question grandma. What happened?”
“Patience is a virtue Samantha. I was just getting to that. Now, where was I? Oh yes; now I remember. After the ceremony, there was the cutting of the cake and then everyone went home. It was really too late at that point for us to even have a reception then, it was held the next afternoon. At least, it was supposed to be. You see, in the months before the wedding, there had been the war raging across the ocean between China and the United States. We all had thought that it would end soon, but that morning they called every able-bodied man to fight. Oliver didn’t have a choice in the matter. He had to leave that very afternoon and we called the reception off.
“When he first left, I received a letter every other day, sometimes one or two every day. But as time wore on and the war became worse, the letters started to dwindle down to one a week, one every other week, one a month, and then they stopped all together. The last letter I received from Oliver was telling me how much he wanted to come home to me and to our child.”
“You were pregnant,” said Samantha, cutting me off. It wasn’t a question.
“Yes. A month after he left I found out. I was in my fourth month of pregnancy when the letters stopped coming. Then, just as I was entering into my sixth month, I was already as big as I house let me tell you, there was a knock on the apartment door. I remember that I jumped to my feet, hoping with all my heart it was Oliver. But it wasn’t. I wasn’t even close. I opened the door to find an officer all right, but it wasn’t him. It was the poor man who had to go every day and tell women that their son or husband had been killed in battle. He handed me Oliver’s identification tags and his possessions. I dropped to the floor, my knees unable to hold me up any longer.
“The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital. My hands went immediately to my stomach, only to find it flatter than it had been in months. My first hope was that they delivered a healthy baby while I was out, a little small probably, but I would have my last link to Oliver. I was devastated when the doctors told me that there had been nothing that they could have done. The baby had gone into shock when I had and it resulted in my son dieing. I cried for weeks after that. I stopped eating, I couldn’t sleep and my parents eventually forced me to go and see a therapist.
“It was when I was leaving to my first appointment when I met your grandfather on the stairs of my building. It took over a year for us to have our first date and even longer for me to accept his proposal, but if I hadn’t you would be here right now.”
Samantha had tears in her eyes. “Oh grandma, I never knew. I’m so sorry.”
I smiled at her and took her hand in mine. “Don’t be,” I said, “I was lucky to fall in love twice in my life. Now that I’m old and your grandfather is gone I have the memories to keep with me until I am reunited with all those I have lost. It is the memories that keep you sane Samantha, remember that always.”
After all, you always remember...