July 22, 2023
Written by,
Lisa A. Fallon
The Unity...
A short story written by Lisa A. Fallon
July 22, 2023
There’s was a love story that could not be duplicated. Best of friends, soul mates and lovers all wrapped up into one beautiful package.
Their life was at the fullest it had ever been.
Forty years together, and thirty-four years of marriage. Life was good for them, very good indeed.
It all started on a beach in Misquamicut, Rhode Island in the summer of 1982.
A quick and sudden invitation for a day at the beach during their small towns’ carnival was where their story began.
She was a check out girl at the local small-town supermarket. He was a factory worker in the same town. When he came into the store that one fateful summer afternoon and took one look into her eyes, he knew he just had to ask her out. It was the summer after high school graduation, and they were both excited to be out of school. Meeting up at the local carnival sounded like the perfect date to hang out and get to know each other.
Bingo and small-town games were the highlights at the carnival. The small town did not have big carnival rides like other towns, but they were ok with it. Walking around hoping to win a prize for her was the best part of the whole evening. Talking and laughing was so easy with her, he thought. That winning smile just made his heart melt, and when she asked him to meet up with her and her sisters the next day to spend the day at the beach, he jumped at the chance to be with her again.
Their summer romance was just getting started when fall came around way too quickly. She was off to college, and he was working full-time.
Even though she wasn’t far away, it was an hour drive at the most. It was still far enough away to squash any future they may have had together.
It was a summer fling too short, and they were too young to think about any kind of future together. But as fate would have it, they would not put each other too far into their own pasts to be forgotten. She kept the bracelet he had engraved for her on her birthday that summer. Time had passed, they had both moved on, but she still kept it in her jewelry box, just waiting to give her a sign and a chance for them to meet up again. Little did she know that chance would finally come four years later. When she saw him behind the video rental counter at the local video store, it was like time had not passed by them at all.
He was working part-time in the evenings ringing up video store rentals when she walked in. One look and he knew, this time I was not letting her go.
She was single again, and so was he. Perfect timing, he thought, to pick up where they had left off that one perfect summer four years earlier.
A date at the local dance bar named “Brandy’s” was in order for that night. He was working second shift and he had promised to meet up with her after work.
And he did. When she saw him walking in that night, with a big smile on his face to greet her, she just knew, this time I am not letting him go. He was single and so was she. Perfect timing, she thought, to pick up where they had left off that one perfect summer four years earlier.
Romance was in the air, and they were rapidly falling in love. Talking about plans for the future together were imminent. They were meant to be together after all that time. They just knew they were soul mates, and they were becoming best of friends – it was fate.
When they both said those three words to each other, they knew it would be a bond that would tie them together forever. They had both grown and matured from teenagers that one summer, to two adults living life to the fullest, and wanting each other to be part of whatever plans they had for the future.
Those plans came to fruition the following July, when they both stood in that little historic owned church in her little hometown and said their hand-written personal vows to each other in front of God, their family, and friends. It was a perfect day. It was a perfect ceremony. It was hot, there were flies buzzing around their heads, but none of that mattered when they looked into each other’s eyes and said I do.
Family and friends walked down the line giving them congratulations and hugs outside on the historic church lawn. Pictures had been taken, the sun was shining, and they were ready to celebrate and start their lives together.
A horse-drawn buggy carried them to their wedding reception with the onlookers giving them waves and shouts as they passed through the next small town, where he had grown up. Who knew they would only be one town away from each other growing up?
As cheers were being shouted out as they entered the reception hall along with their wedding party, they were all ready to celebrate their marriage.
Traditions were had, first dances were danced, speeches were made, appetites were filled, and toasts were given throughout the evening.
That day and celebration of their unity would be remembered as one of the last family gatherings with everyone present for all.
The celebration came to an end all too soon, and they drove off with the sun setting in the background, ready to head home as newlyweds. They had an early departure to their honeymoon destination to Bermuda, he had planned for them the next morning.
They were renting a cute little one-bedroom house on a dead-end street, and they felt just like coming home when they walked in the door. This is it they said to each other. We did it! Mr. and Mrs. we are now and forever.
And their lives had never felt so full and so full of love. They did not know what the future had planned for them, but they could not wait to get started to see how it was going to unfold.
Good times, and not so good times would come and go, and through it all, they stayed steadfast to the vows they said to each other that wedding day.
They bought their first home, a beautiful log cabin in the small town she grew up in. They could not wait to get started on their next chapter in their lives. Chapter one – save money. Chapter two – buy their first home. Chapter three – start a family. It was time. Six years of marriage and their first child was born. A bouncing, beautiful baby girl who came one month early. The love they felt for each other was now three-fold with the birth of their daughter. Life was full, life was complete, life was happy.
Fast forward to four years later and the birth of their second child was born. A bouncing, beautiful baby boy who came right on time, the last baby born from the hospital that year. The love they felt for each other was now four-fold with the birth of their son. Life was full, life was complete, life was happy.
A few ups and downs along their journey, they still stayed steadfast to their marriage vows. Job changes, a move to a new town, a move to a new home, grown children, and their love just continued to grow.
Their daughter married and moved out on her own. They could not be any prouder of the woman she had become. Their son who was four years younger, was graduating from high school and looking forward to his future. They could not be any prouder of the young man he had become.
Feeling sad their daughter was moving to California in the Spring, the love they had for her and their son, just grew even stronger. Their family unit was strong and the love they had for each other just continued to grow in strength as they drove cross country to leave their daughter in her new home.
Leaving her off with her husband who had joined the army was one of the hardest things they ever had to do. Getting on that plane to come back home was full of tears and sadness. But also of joy, knowing how strong and independent and wonderful their daughter was. They were so proud of the woman she had become.
It was just the three of them back home now, and they clung to each other when missing her got to be too much. Having their son still home was a real godsend. The empty nest syndrome came in to play, and the support he gave to them was just what they both needed to get through the absence of their daughter. They were so proud of the young man he had become.
As time passed, the love they felt for each other, and their family grew stronger and stronger. They knew now that anything that came their way, they would handle just fine.
That love and strength came all too real for them when cancer came into their picture. A weekend retreat away to Lake George one summer was followed by a diagnosis no one ever wants to hear.
A weekend of an anniversary celebration of love and happiness was quickly replaced by sorrow and fear. But as they lived their marriage through their vows and prayers, so would they live through this time in their lives. They came together as a family even stronger than they had before. The love they felt for each other overcame whatever sorrow and fear they felt. They persevered through all the treatments, and became a strong, solid, foundation together through it all.
Promises were kept, prayers were answered, and a cure was found. Never more than that time in their lives did they feel so connected to each other.
Through strength and perseverance, they fought the battle together and came out winning in the end.
Nothing would tear them apart from each other. Their lives had been given a second chance and they were not going to waste one single moment of the time they had left together.
Another move for their daughter brought her closer to home than before, and a relief was felt to them all. They were closer now to visiting her often, and the bond they shared was even stronger than before. Their daughter would need her own courage and strength as her husband was deployed to another country for nine long months. They had only been married for six years, they were still young and still newlyweds, and the time their daughter was going to be alone felt intolerable to them all. Being lonely and far away from home, it took all their daughters’ strength and theirs to be there for each other.
As time passed from that awful day of saying goodbyes, their daughter’s strength had grown, and they were so proud of the woman she had become once again. The sibling bond she had with her brother grew even stronger as adults. They were there for each other through thick and thin.
Becoming parents to their children and even as adults they always wanted to keep them from any kind of hurt or pain. But knowing that they raised them to be independent, strong, intelligent, and caring human beings, they just knew they would get through anything, and she did. Some of those moments came far more often to prove than not.
Fast forward to thirty-four years of marriage later, and a week-long anniversary celebration, neither one of them thought that their hearts couldn’t get any fuller than they had for the last forty years they had known each other. For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do they part will they persevere and love each other until eternity.
But this is not the end of their story; it is just the beginning.