Seasons of Love and Marriage - 3

by JLR

Seasons of Love and Marriage

III

She answered the Priest's question,
"Why do you want to get married?"
She instantly responded,
"So that we can sleep together legally."
He blushed!

His early days home from Nam
were riddled with ups and downs,
with more downs than ups.
Until they met on a Sunday,
in the canteen in the VA.

She came through the doorway,
tall and buxom, with a confident air,
wearing a happy face,
and the fact is,
he felt his heart pick up the pace.

Dressed in his finest hospital blues,
with both legs bound in bandages,
sticking out straight from the wheelchair,
JR felt like a sign hung around his neck,
that screamed in red, Caution!
Approach at your own risk.

But she came round every Sunday.
Week after week, Ginny came.
She talked, JR listened, and slowly,
like a turtle keeping his head buried
he started to come out of his shell.

A few months came and went
when JR was finally released from
the hospital, having graduated to
crutches and braces, and with a can of
WD-40 for the squeaks that sounded
like a rusty faucet, reminding him to go slow.

As he got back into the civilian thing
JR got into the habit of being
with Ginny, but he wasn't certain
about the times being alone,
when demons crept up,
like Charlie in the Jungle.

Every vet JR knew who wasn't yet married,
was hitching up, making babies,
and closing the chapter in life's book.

------------------------

Even though JR could not get down
on bended knees, he asked her,
"Please, will you marry me?
Will you have my babies?"

So, the Priest blessed his union with
a High Mass affair and off into the
blessed blue, they left the church
as love doves do, not one but two.

But there came a lesson about love
JR did not yet even know.
In order to love someone else
One must love yourself first.

----------------------------

Ginny gave her very best,
including a daughter and son.
But demons lurking in the
shadows, from which JR could
never outrun, made her life
anything but fun.

So, as seasons ebbed and flowed
Ginny sought the comfort of
another beau who was able to
love her more than this man.

She'd say JR took from her
the best years of her life,
He'd did say, "Thanks, you were
a good wife, I did the best I could.

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Author's Note:
From the National Center for PTSD
The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) compared Veterans with PTSD to those without PTSD.
The findings showed that Vietnam Veterans with PTSD:
Got divorced twice as much
Were three times more likely to divorce two or more times
Tended to have shorter relationships

Thanks for the use of ptsd by MKFlood

Pays one point and 2 member cents.

Artwork by MKFlood at FanArtReview.com

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Poem 9

A chapter in the book Seasons of Change

Seasons of Love and Marriage - 3

by JLR

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