A very short (for me) tale. Nothing new here and not breaking any new ground.
"Ted looks so handsome in his uniform," Donna Linder said to her long-time friend Carol Bruce.
"He does, doesn't he," Carol replied, looking fondly, yet proudly toward her husband and the praise directed at him. Carol was standing a few feet from her husband as she looked around the large room. Groups of people were in clusters chatting away; some catching up with old friends; others meeting for the first time. Carol was expecting a large crowd today and the room was filling quickly.
Carol had seen photos of her husband in his military uniform, but those had been taken when he was younger; before they met and married. Today was the first time she had actually seen Ted in uniform and she could not get over how handsome and dashing he looked.
"What kind of uniform is he wearing?" Donna asked. "I don't think I'm familiar with it. And those medals..."
"It's the Ukraine army dress uniform," Carol said of the green dress uniform with a white shirt and black tie. "The two larger medals he's wearing... the ones with the blue and yellow ribbons...those are Hero of Ukraine and Order of the Gold Star. They're Ukraine's highest awards for bravery. President Zelensky personally signed the awards citation!" Carol said, waving her hand towards an easel on which could be seen two framed certificates for the medals which adorned her husband's chest. Carol again looked proudly at her husband. "He's also wearing his American awards. He was awarded a Silver Star and two Purple Hearts in Afghanistan, but that was before we met."
"I had no idea he had volunteered to fight in Ukraine," Donna said. "What on earth possessed a man of his age to volunteer to fight in another country's war? Especially a country thousands of miles away from his home. He's not even Ukrainian! He's from Beaumont, for crying out loud. Couldn't you talk him out of it?"
"I tried," Carol said. "I tried to talk him out of going. I begged and pleaded and argue with him, but his mind was made up. There was nothing I could say or do to change it."
Carol thought back to the day she had arrived home from work to find her husband already home, a saucer containing a cup of coffee sat in front of him the dark walnut of the dining table gleamed under the hanging light fixture as her husband sat in silence.
"Hi honey, what are you doing at home? I thought you weren't coming back into town until later tonight. Did the deposition go alright?" Ted had to drive an hour to take a deposition in downtown Dallas and had told his wife he would be late getting home. It was eight o'clock in the evening; nearly three hours past the time Carol usually arrived home. If she had known Ted would be home, she would have canceled her plans and come home immediately after work.
"We need to talk about a few things. Pour yourself a glass of wine or coffee and have a seat."
Carol had been mildly perturbed at her husband's brusque tone. "Let me take a quick shower and change into something more comfortable," she had said.
"No!" Ted had barked at her, shocking Carol even more. "Sit down. This is important and I'm not going to wait while you clean yourself off."
Carol could feel herself pale at her husband's comment. She nervously pulled out her usual chair across the table from her husband and sat, placing her cell phone on the table in front of her. She looked down at her hands splayed before her, as heat from her body left blurry halos of condensation on the dark, glossy wood. Apropos of nothing, Carol remembered the day she and Ted had purchased the dining room set. The furniture was Amish made, well-constructed and very expensive. Being able to afford fine furniture had been a new experience for both of them after years of furnishing their home through department stores or Ikea.
"In about four hours," Ted began as he glanced at his watch, "I'll be catching a flight to Warsaw, Poland. From there I'll be taking a combination of trains and buses to Kyiv, Ukraine. I've signed a 12-month contract to fight with the Ukrainian Army. I've taken twenty-five percent of the savings account, but I'm not touching the checking account. I've given Sam Albright my power of attorney. Here's his card," Ted said as he slid a business card toward Carol.
Carol felt lightheaded as if she were about to pass out.
"I-I-I don't understand," she was finally able to get the words out. "Is this a joke? You're forty-five years old. You can't go off to fight in some war!"
"I can, and I am. My combat experience may have been twenty-two years ago, but some things you don't forget."
