Veterans Day 2018 / Waiting for Eden

This piercing tale of a mangled soldier hovering near death is far more than a war story. (Julia Tagliere)

Waiting for Eden was written by a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's a short story.  It's a long story.  It's an old story.  It's a new story.  It's a complicated story.

It begins with these words, “I want you to understand Mary and what she did.”

(am and R in 1970 -- little did I know at that moment in 1970)

Waiting for Eden, as painful as it was for me to read, left me knowing myself more clearly and knowing that the writer understood women who are affected by war and what we do in impossible situations. 

"... it’s difficult not to fall in love with someone you’re on the run with. But you stop eventually, and then — .” (from Waiting for Eden)

On this Veterans Day,  I am sending love to all the living women and men whose lives are profoundly affected by war throughout the world.  I used to think I was alone.  I was never alone.

I hope to continue working on Mandala #38 today: