Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Uncle Ben

He stood at the end of the driveway speechless like a statue. An angel little girl was running towards him with her arms wide open. She was just four. Her mom Emily, was transfixed on him with teary eyes. She could hardly speak.

Ruby threw her arms around Josh and welcomed her daddy back with a well-planted kiss. "Where is uncle Ben?". She was curious because uncle Ben loved her the most. He hugged her and told Ruby that her beloved uncle Ben will be a little late.

Rest of the evening went by with Ruby doing the most of the talking. The adults were unusually quite. They were not expecting this. After Ruby went to bed, Josh turned to unusually strong Emily, who now was almost in tears. They said nothing more and bid goodbye to each other. She has to break the news to Ruby as soon as possible. Probably the next morning.

As he stood at the end of the driveway, he turned around to see the now quite little house. His heart ached with pain. It was a long hard eighteen months at Afghanistan, and the war has taken its toll. With this thought, Ben's eyes were wet with tears. How he misses Josh! His twin brother.