RIVER
Mrs. Wilson paused before continuing, and I continued to wish I could capture this moment. “But your father had his dreams, as did I,” she continued, her smile fading.
“And one of those dreams was joining the army. It was all he talked about, even back then. And I… I never wanted that for him. I wanted him safe. I wanted him with me, and I didn’t know if I could be the woman I needed to be as an army wife. But it was what he wanted, so when the time came, I let him go and told myself that I could do it, that I had to do it.”
She swallowed hard, her voice catching. “But every time he had to leave, it broke me a little more.” She paused, and I kept quiet, my chest aching for her as I pictured her waiting, worrying, and watching him walk away again and again.
Mom had told me how
