going to do? M0mma will have a heart attack if you had to fight in war. She’s already lost so much in her life, why risk yourself?”
“I’m not risking myself at all. In fact, I’m going to Hawaii because it’s an easy transition. There’s no action up there. I made sure of it because I know how you and momma get when it comes to the military. She flipped when I first joined, so I made sure that I put myself in a place where there will be no harm done.” He looked at me and his face was serious. And I knew that I would just have to except the fact that my brother was a grown man and he had to make his own decisions in life, and if this was something that he wanted, then I had no choice but to support him.
“When will you come back here?” I asked him.
“I’ll only be stationed there for three years, so I’ll see you in three years.”
“Wow, it seems like forever. Three years is a long time, Junior.”
“Don’t worry, Marie. Everyday has its setting sun, and before you know it, night falls and then the dawn breaks. I’ll be back home with you and momma before you know it. Just make sure you look out at the western horizon each night and know that dawn will come.” He kissed me on the cheek and I watched him go upstairs to get his bags and then I watched him come back downstairs.
His cab was waiting for him to leave and I gave him a big hug and a kiss for me and for the family. I was so proud of him, but I was scared at the same time. It felt like I was watching one of my own kids walk down the driveway and enter the cab and leave me for three years. I started to cry and I couldn’t help myself. I kept staring out the window, hoping that his cab would return and hoping that he realized that he was making a mistake, but it never happened, and I had to move on.
December 7, 1941- Dansville, Virginia
This was the worst day of my life. This was the day that the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor killing hundreds if not thousands of people, including my brother, Albert Jr. He was killed by the gunshots of a Japanese aircraft when he tried to go to his battle station. I didn’t receive the news until a week later, but it didn’t matter. He was gone, just like my father was. And I never wanted him to go, but he just didn’t listen to me. He told me that it would be alright and that he would be safe. He told me that it would be alright and he would be back in three years.
But it wasn’t alright because my brother was dead. I couldn’t believe it happened all over again.
When my mother found out about the death of her son, she got a heart attack, and passed away. We buried Albert next to my daddy and we buried my mother next to her mother in her family’s lot. They both were buried in the same month, a week after the other. Life was so hard without my mom and my brother.
My sister, Heather and her family moved back into my mother’s house with me and my family and she helped me with the seamstress business. Ryan cut back on his hours at the factory just so that he could stay with me longer and provide me with the extra comfort that I needed. After my brother and mother’s deaths, I wasn’t myself. I wouldn’t eat or sleep or take care of the boys. My husband had to take care of the boys and do more of the chores around the house because I was like a zombie. If words were said to me, I didn’t hear them, and it wasn’t because I didn’t want to hear them, it was just that my mind was so occupied with the fact that I lost my closest brother and my wonderful mother.
It was very difficult during that time.
January 19, 1942- Dansville, Virginia
It was a little more than a year since my mother and brother’s passing and I was coping with it better. I got back on track with the business and even sold my house to a very nice couple and made a lot of money. Heather and her family moved back to New York and then my sister, Joyce and her family moved in with my family and me. My husband became one of the executive managers at the factory and the United States of America was in the second World War, thanks to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This was my eldest son’s eighteen year old birthday. This also was the day that my father was born, so we celebrated two things that day. My husband was so happy to see that I was happy and that I was dealing with all the misfortune in my life. All of Ryan Jr.’s friends were over and they were outside in the cold crisp air, playing games and having a lot of fun. I was in the kitchen cooking up a storm and my handsome husband was right there with me, giving me a hand. Six months after the deaths of my mother and brother, I started to open up to my husband and we started to communicate more. He helped me cope with my brother and mother being gone, and although they were everything to me, I still had the best thing that ever happened to me, which was the love of my life.
That night, my sister, Joyce, took all the kids to my sister, Abigail’s, and Ryan and I had the whole house to ourselves. We had a candle lit dinner and danced the night away. It was so romantic, and then we spent the rest of the night in each other’s arms. But instead of going to the bedroom, Ryan had another surprise planned for me. Outside in our backyard, there was this big blanket and two sets of snow boots waiting for us. It confused me at first, because there was no snow on the ground, but then I quickly caught on to what he was doing.
“Oh honey this is so romantic. You’re trying to make the same scenery as the night we finally became a couple,” I assumed.
“Yes. How did you guess?” he asked me with a huge grin on his face.
“Oh I don’t know. Did the blanket give it away?”
“Maybe.”
“Or was it the snow boots?”
“That’s why I love you. You’re so observant.” he said and then he took my hand and pulled me into his chest and then he lightly kissed my forehead. “So, Mrs. Jensen, what do you think? I did good, didn’t I?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yes, Mr. Jensen. You did good, but there’s one problem,” I told him.
He backed up and looked around to see if he forgotten anything. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“You forgot to bring the river.” I looked up at him and laughed. He laughed too and then kissed me passionately on my lips, and we spent the rest of that night the same way we did when we were at our spot down by the river in New York.
The war ended in 1945 and all was well. My husband became the manager of the confectionery factory and we moved back to Albany. He managed another factory out here and I still had my seamstress business going, but now I shared it with all my sisters, although we all didn’t live near each other. Ryan and I moved into my parents’ old house and we fixed it up real nice so it looked brand new. We got a dog and named him Mason after my old childhood dog. And Ryan and I spent many romantic evenings down by the river just like we used to when we were young.
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About the Author
Leslie Williams was born in Brooklyn, New York, but was raised in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. She is currently studying at Full Sail University to receive her BFA in Creative Writing for Entertainment. She also currently resides in Philadelphia with her wonderful family who never stops giving her support.
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These Setting Suns Page 7
