Legacy of Dreams

For Those Who Serve: And have Returned whole And have Returned Fucked Up And Will Never Return. None are forgotten. Marla, you need to go upstairs and put on your pink dress. Your father will be walking thru that door any minute now, and he hasn’t seen you in two years.” Marla smiled a sad, little smile. There hasn’t been an upstairs in twenty years, and Daddy will not come thru the front door today or any day. Daddy lies in Arlington now. Both Daddy and his medals. “Mom, come lay on the couch for a while. You’ll hear when the cab drops Daddy off. I promise. “ She looks so old now, Marla thought. There wasn’t even a front door now. There was an entrance to the small apartment. One among nine other apartments. Pretty little cells for little, old mothers, dying of Dementia. Others, like her mother, gripped in the horrible claws of Alzheimer's; waiting to die but not even aware of it. She got her mother down on the couch and began stroking her forehead. Soon the woman’s breathing slowed. She seemed to be dreaming in a time and place far better than this. Marla looked at the picture of her father in combat fatigues. At that time he was a Major. She looked down at her mother and brushed away the tears. “I will probably,” she said “never see you again, mother. I truly love you.” She stood up, walked to the door, turned to look at her father. She felt her back brace tight, as her right arm snapped to a rigid salute. “Sir, Captain Marla Tech, USMC. Sir, I am your daughter, Sir. More importantly, Sir, I am your legacy. Goodbye, Sir.” Marla executed a perfect about-face. She picked up her duffel bag and stepped into the hallway. Her mother slept peacefully as Marla hailed a cab to take her to the embarkation port.