The Hero I Lost To War

Synopsis

My father had been in a coma for years. My mother kept herself alive by gambling. She lost nine times out of ten. On my eighteenth birthday, she surprised me with a brand-new dress. Then she dragged me to a poker room downtown. She grabbed my arm and begged, "Emily, please, just do this one thing for me. Frank said all you have to do is have dinner with him. Just one dinner." I fought against her grip, sobbing and screaming, "Mom! Mom, no! Please don't do this to me!" Ryan Carter was the one who pulled me out of that room that night. I was at the age where a girl falls in love for the first time, and he became my hero. He was twenty-two that year, fresh out of West Point. He carried himself with the kind of confidence that only belonged to a young man who believed the whole world lay ahead of him. He was radiant, almost blinding to look at. Years later, he deployed overseas to serve his country. When he finally came home, we happened to be on the same flight. I looked at the seat beside me, where a wooden box sat draped in a folded flag, and I whispered, "Ryan, we're home."