The Death of a Serviceman

The first time Charlie came looking for Emily, it was to ask her out on a date. Emily didn't remember much after that, except that she had been getting Aiden out of the car that day. Two years later her and Charlie were married and starting a family of their own.

Charlie was 19 years old when he enlisted in the Army and immediately after bootcamp they shipped him out to Iraq and all Emily could pray for everyday was that her husband came home to her. Everyday her parents would call and ask her if she had heard from Charlie.

And then came the day when the car drove up on the street and two Casualty Notification Officers got out and walked up to the house, Emily started backing up away from the door praying that it wasn't her Charlie that was gone, then came the knock on the door, she stilled for just a moment and then began to scream. Not my Charlie, she said. The soldiers came in and sat her down on the sofa until she got it together and then politely left. Emily just stared out the window wishing Charlie would just walk up those steps.

Once Emily was able to calm down she called her boys into the living room to tell them their father had been killed in Iraq. She thought, this has to be the hardest thing a parent ever has to do as she held them tight to her chest. Later that day she called her mom and dad and explained what happened and could they please come down, her parents jumped on a plane and was there by nightfall.

The next day Emily and her mom went looking for her and the boys a new place to live seeing as they wouldn't be on base much longer. Emily had started a catering business 1 year ago and it seemed to be thriving. She figured her and the boys would do pretty well on the income from the catering business.

Life went on after Emily and the boys settled in to their new place and eventually Emily went on to get married again. As luck would have it she had met another service man 2 years after Charlies death in Iraq. Her boys seem to get along really well with Todd and after dating Todd for a year Emily and him got married and lived happily ever after.