An Everlasting Love

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July 2016

Eunice and James Macon have been married for nearly 70 yrs. It is their thing to go to the park and get on that swing and talk. No matter what time of the year it is, they are on that swing and they still have the look of love between them.

This love started many years ago when they lived in the same neighborhood, a couple of houses away from each other. He would come and walk her to the school when they were 10 yrs old. After school, they used to go to the park on the way home. Eunice would get on the swing and he pushed her. She would giggle gleefully as she said "Push Harder" and he did, just to hear her laugh.

Eunice and her family moved away to another town when she was sixteen. They wrote to each other often. Eunice still has those letters because they showed a sensitive and caring boy despite the gruffness that she sees on the outside.

Eunice and her mother came back to town when her father died and by then she had grown into a beautiful woman who was nineteen years old. James was nineteen, too. He had graduated from high school and was about to go to college when the Korean War broke out and he signed up for the draft. She didn't want him to go because she loved him. He felt like he had to go because it was his duty to his Country to go. He loved her, too and he gave her a dainty ruby and diamond engagement ring and asked her to marry him. She said "yes" and they got married right before he was shipped out. They had no time for a honeymoon but he said that he would make it up to her.

It was a tense year and she was a wallflower of war waiting for James to come home. He wrote her long letters and she cherished them. She wrote him long letters, too and sprayed them with her favorite perfume, Chanel No 5.

James got wounded in the leg by a sniper and he had to go to a MASH unit to get patched up. After that year was over, James got his discharge orders and he sent a telegram to Eunice to let him know that he was coming home.

Eunice put on her finest dress and hat and, she met him at the airport along with the other Wallflowers of War. She saw her James; she ran to him and gave him a hug and kiss. He looked so dashing in his uniform and his cane but Eunice didn't care because her husband was wounded but alive.

She took him home to her mother's house. It was her mother's idea for Eunice to stay with her until James came home. Eunice had been working at the local dress shop, "The Yellow Rose". Eunice saw a beautiful pale pink lace nightgown and robe set and it was way out of her price range. The owner, Mz Sally had been a Wallflower of War herself with her husband being in World War 2. He had passed away. She gave Eunice the pale pink lace nightgown and robe to give her husband a proper hello. Eunice thanked her and she took it home and tried it on, she looked beautiful.

Eunice's mother went out of town so that she and her husband could be alone in the house on his first night home. She cooked Steaks with Mushroom Sauce, Baked potato, and steamed asparagus w/ lemon butter sauce and, red wine to drink and, an apple pie for dessert. She even set the table with candles and wine glasses. She turned the music on and there were Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller on the playlist and the place filled up with romance. James had come in, cleaned himself up and had a Japanese Silk Kimono on, the one he had picked up for her once.

James helped her with her chair. They held hands, said grace and ate that wonderful dinner. Artie Shaw was playing "Stardust", James asked Eunice if she wanted to dance. She got out of the chair and even with his bum leg he was still a good dancer. It was a wonderful romantic night.

The next morning, Eunice was sleeping. James woke up, went to the kitchen and fixed breakfast for Eunice and him. He found a tray and a tiny silver vase; he took a red rose and put it in that vase. He fixed bacon, eggs, and toast with butter and jam, orange juice and coffee. Eunice was touched that James fixed breakfast for her.

Eunice had been saving her allotment checks and she had been working at the dress shop. She showed James their bank book and it had nearly $2,000 dollars in the bank. It was enough to get them a home and have a bed, a living room set, and a dining set.

Within the next month, James found a job at the local post office and they moved out of her mother's house. It was still in the same neighborhood, just at the end of the street.

James and Eunice lived their lives and they raised three children. It was at the time of their 30th anniversary that James kept a promise that he made to Eunice before he went off to Korea. He took her on a 3 week Cruise to the Orient. They toured China, Japan, and Hong Kong. It was a long awaited honeymoon that Eunice had wanted for. Their three children had grown up and moved out of the house.

They still have that everlasting love between them.

Author

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