This is a love story

I first met her on the bus where I would save her a seat on the way to school. I was two grades ahead of her at that time. After school we would split one of those popsicles with two sticks and spend the rest of the afternoon talking and procrastinating on homework. We were good friends.

When I was a senior in high school, I made a decision to drop out and work at the steel factory in town with my father and older brother to help support the family. Times were still hard in post-depression America. My teacher cried on the day that I left and was sure I was making a terrible mistake.

Two years later, I returned to school. I had one class with my friend from the bus. Our classroom faced the highway, and I always found myself daydreaming about what lay down that road only to be rudely awoken by my teacher telling me to "come down off the highway." It wasn't long after my return to school that the second great war had begun, and I had been called into the service. Because of the almost assurance of a semi-permanent home, I chose the navy rather than the army. I took the next train to San Diego to begin my training. It took us five days to reach the coast.

I began training to be an electrician on board an aircraft carrier. I was second in my class, and this is likely due to my missing a week for having catarrhal fever. Because of my grades, they asked me to further train to learn maintenance of the ship's gyroscope. I consented, and they shipped me to Seattle for another 4 months of training. While I was out west, I recieved a letter from my friend. This made a big impression on me. We were good friends.

After I completed my training, I was given a few weeks of leave before I would be shipped overseas for the war. I decided during this leave that I would pay my old friend a visit. This is when our friendship became something so much more.

When I returned from the war, we were married. I returned to school yet again to graduate and proceed onto college where I would eventually get a degree in mathematics. While obtaining my degree, I was called back into action by the naval reserve. I asked for deferment, but they said they needed me now, not later. So, I was shipped to the south Pacific for the Korean conflict leaving my education and my wife behind.

While in Korea, we were stationed in an extremely dangerous territory for about a month. There was no correspondence. My wife did not hear from me during any of this time. She had no idea what my condition was or if I was even alive. One day at work, she recieved a phone call from her best friend who lived next door. She said, "Hurry home. Your mailbox is overflowing with letters." She arrived home to find 30 letters from her husband, one for each day he was in enemy territory.

The conflict finally came to an end, and I returned home to my wife and to complete my education. We had a son that year, and I recieved my masters in education from Auburn. The wars were over, and my family was finally given the time we wanted to start our lives together.

That was almost sixty years ago, and my grandparents are still married and splendidly happy. I only pray that I can find a love that pure and steadfast. I could only be so lucky.