The Parting: Every Day Life

They were never really close before. Charlotte and Jack’s mother, Nancy, had a barrier between them. The wall was Jack. Of course, Jack never wanted any friction between his women. They were the two most important ladies in his life. Still, to Nancy it seemed that Charlotte was taking away a son she wasn’t ready to give up. In the month’s that followed Jack’s deployment, the two developed a close bond.

They spoke on the phone almost daily. Every letter and email was shared. Charlotte shared the first letter she received.  

Hello,

I am writing so that you will know that all is well for me. Today I went on my first patrol. I will say it was scary but nothing happened other than we saw a couple dead bodies from a fire fight a couple days ago. The chow here is pretty good. I’m with good friends so, overall, I can’t complain. Please don’t worry about me. I’m with a good group of guys. We have some veterans who know what they are doing. I’m in good hands.

I want you to know that I love you very much. I miss you and can’t wait to see you again. Please write often since letters are such a bright spot in our days. I will write again as soon as time permits.

Love,
Jack

 

Both women began to respect one another. Charlotte began to see the strength in Nancy a women who overcame a financially poor childhood to become a mother who fiercely protected her family. She was loyal, proud, and loved her family. Nancy came to understand that, while Charlotte was young and still trying to find her way in the world, her heart was good. More and more she believed that Charlotte wasn’t trying to steal Jack away for selfish reasons. She truly wanted what was best for him.

Charlotte settled into the routine of life on the home front when your soldier is off to war. Work continued to be work. There were clothes to be washed, food to be cooked, dishes to be done, and cars to be maintained.  Sprinkle in the little mishaps and aggravations that happen on occasion and you understand her life.  She thought about Jack often and prayed for him even more often.  People at church continued to be supportive and she appreciated the prayers offered up for protection and safety for Jack.  It gave her peace.

An interesting thing happened one Sunday.  A young man from church, who was a couple years older than Charlotte, sat next to her at a pot luck lunch after the Sunday service.  His name was Bob. They began talking about Jack. Bob had many question about Jack’s deployment, his unit, and how long he would be in Afghanistan.  Bob was a animated and smiling.  While their conversation was pleasant enough and there was no indication of any advances from Bob, Charlotte felt uneasy.  Still, Bob was no stranger. He lived in the town his whole life and everyone knew him and liked him.  Nevertheless, call it women’s intuition if you like, but Charlotte decided to put a barricade between her heart and Bob.  She was Jack’s girl.