Piece of Soul Through the Heart: A Soul's Journey

By Loretta M. Herrington

This is a heart- and soul-felt story, capturing nuance, humor, and joy -- guided by the Light and promise of God, ritual, nation, family and proud heritage that links generations worldwide to the common human experience of hope in the shadow of adversity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 26, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463452537

Loretta M. Herrington

Loretta Herrington is the wife of a retired Marine Corps Colonel, a former government executive, small business owner, and an old soul with a youthful spirit. She had the good fortune to live in Japan and to travel abroad extensively. Her work with diverse cultures in the United States, and overseas has gifted her with life experiences unlike any others – that she views with a global lens. Loretta develops deep emotional bonds with her friends and gravitates toward people who share her values. Loretta and her husband Rick live in the City of Fairfax, Virginia, near Washington, DC, with their family dog, a rescued Jack Russell Terrier named Harley. Harley is a bundle of energy and named after Loretta’s favorite sport - riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle on the open roads. She takes every opportunity to meet Americans living in small towns and farms when she and Rick take to the open road and rediscover the basics of life. After the September 11th attacks, Loretta wanted to help her wounded nation to rise up and heal. She applied for a position with the Bush Administration and in October 2001, was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve within the Executive Branch. For eight years she worked in his Administration in a number of executive level positions that combined her love of country, respect of public policy and belief in the American Dream for everyone, including women, and civilians and veterans with disabilities. Her most memorable moment was witnessing President Bush sign the Afghan Women and Children Relief Act providing educational and health care assistance for Afghan women and children. As co-founder of AGTG, LLC Tours, Loretta plans to escort tours to the country of Georgia, sharing her love of the country, with those who are yet to discover the pride of the Georgian people, their culture and rich heritage. Loretta believes life is not arbitrary and everything happens for a reason – on many levels that may not be clear at the time. In “Piece of Soul Through the Heart ,” Loretta invites you into a personal journey with her family through pride, sadness and the gift of friendship that rises from the ashes of tragedy.

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© 2011 Loretta M. Herrington. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 9/14/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-5254-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-5253-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914559

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Do I Know You?

Chapter 2

Mr. Bill

Chapter 3

Zura Moves On

Chapter 4

Now We Wait

Chapter 5

The Trip

Chapter 6

The Country of Georgia –

The Land of the Undaunted

Chapter 7

Mr. King

Afterward

Our Bond (written by Loretta M. Herrington)

We looked at his lifeless face

There was no need to embrace

We stood there silently

Letting our emotions sit quietly

We formed an unspoken bond

No need to speak and respond

Why now, why here, why him

This union wasn’t formed on a whim

We witnessed a spirit leaving

I felt his imaginary touch, believing

That I would feel his comfort forever

Never would this bond be severed

Dedication:

To my husband Rick, who after thirty-one years in the US Marine Corps, including twenty-one years of our marriage on active duty, said when he retired, Now it’s your turn. Thank you for giving me the freedom and support to explore life to the fullest, and thank you for giving me the gift of Zura. Mikvarxar (I love you).

To all my Georgian friends here and in Georgia, I admire your courage and cherish your friendship. Most of all, I am deeply moved by your love of family, friends, and country. God bless Sakartvelo!

Acknowledgments

My sister Kate, my brother Bill, my brother-in-law Pat, my godson Patrick, and his wife Terry: for all you did for Dad and Pop when I wasn’t around, you have my gratitude, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Love you all.

Tom and Ann Graham were my father’s neighbors for over fifty years and remained loyal and caring friends. Ann passed away on May 7, 2011. I will always remember Ann and I standing next to my father’s bed, saying a silent prayer together the night before he died. Ann was a beautiful soul and is now with God and his angels.

My longtime friend and colleague, Karen Czarnecki, arranged for Zura’s presentation at Georgetown University. Karen is a friend who is a woman of action and identifies with the little guy.

Tari Hartman Squire listened attentively to my story about Zura on a business trip and collaborated on Zura’s press release. You are a loyal colleague, and I admire your wonderful way with words and encouragement.

Char DeWalt willingly gave us the benefit of her years of experience in the travel business and never asked for a fee.

Zura couldn’t ask for better friends than Avto, Badri, and Gio. You give of yourselves unconditionally, and you truly love Zura and have his interests at heart. Here’s to American Georgian Travel Group!

Zura, you are a talented young man and gifted poet. America is a place of miracles, and I just know you will find your way in life. Why not? We are on the A team.

Chapter 1

Do I Know You?

I know you from somewhere—but where?

I feel like I’ve met you before, but I just can’t place you. Do you know me? I know I know you.

I was sitting in my father’s living room, listening to his slow and labored breathing while he rested in his hospital bed close by. These questions and thoughts nagged me as I interviewed a young man to help me take care of my dying father. I couldn’t give these questions much of my time because Dad was fading fast.

After eight years of serving in President George W. Bush’s administration, I was worn out and honestly looking forward to downtime with my family and a normal life outside of government. I was a political appointee and had to resign my position effective on the day the new President took the oath of office—January 20, 2009. That normal life wasn’t meant to be, because my father was going into the final stages of congestive heart failure and needed all the family’s caretaking time, including mine.

To take care of my father, I had to leave on a Monday for Pennsylvania, about a three-hour drive from my home, and return on a Friday afternoon, trying my best to beat the Washington, DC Beltway traffic. While glad that I had the time to spend with Dad, caretaking was taking its toll.

Dad had lived in the same row house outside of Philadelphia for fifty-five years, so you would think these caretaking trips would be like going home for a visit: same kitchen, same bathroom, same bedroom where my sister Kate and I shared a bed until she got married (she married before I did). But they weren’t. I had not lived in the house since my marriage to a Marine. My parents divorced shortly after I got married, and Dad remained a divorced man—a status that I don’t believe he ever liked. After many postings in the United States and overseas, my husband Rick and I decided to live in northern Virginia, where Rick retired as a colonel. Military life was a great ride for many years, but we had to settle somewhere, and we decided Virginia was ideal because I would be close to my family after so many years away.

I had wanted to be closer to family for a long time, and a three-hour drive between our home and Philadelphia was perfect. Dad could drive down, and we would spend a weekend together reminiscing, drinking wine, sitting out on our deck, and taking in the summer evening. However, it wasn’t long after we moved into our current house in 1999 that Dad realized he couldn’t make the drive any longer. He was seventy-nine when he made this decision, and it was the right decision. So Rick and I took this in stride and made the trips to Pennsylvania when we could.

It’s an honor to serve a president, and I never regretted my time in the Bush administration, but I was working ten to twelve hours a day. I held three