Grandma looked up. The smiling face was blurry, but the voice was familiar: granddaughter Janet, “Goodness, dear,” she smiled back, “you startled me.” Grandma felt good today : no aches, no pains At the age of 91, that was enough to make it a good day. But here enjoyment was shattered as soon as she sat down.
“Hey, Grandma! I didn’t know you were in town!” It was grandson Ed’s voice; his figure blurred in motion as he bounded across the lawn.
“How are you, dear”? She asked, accepting a kiss and giving one in return. “Have you decided what to do with yourself after you graduate?”
Ed knelt down, putting himself at Grandma’s eye-level. “I, um, got myself a steady job, Gramm,” he said, looking everywhere except at his grandmother. He felt her thin hand go limp, and knew that she knew the truth. “you did it,” she accused him. “You actually did it.” She had been defeated; her grandson had enlisted.
“It’s a great deal, Gramm,” he said, his voice perking up. “They’re putting me into Officer’s Training, and after my hitch is up, I can get a college education at government expense.”
“I told you I’d give you any tuition you needed.” Her voice was hoarse.
“I told you not to worry about that.”
“But that’s not good, Gramm. You need the money you have. And besides, I won’t be gone that long. This Vietnam thing won’t last.” The old woman could see clearly now, but her sight was years away. She was talking to her grandson in the present; but pleading with a son who had died years before. She said, “No, you won’t. You won’t come back at all. It will be just like you father, just like your father.”