Two Loves

By Anthony A. Pellegrino

I opened my eyes and it seemed like it was time to get out of bed and start a new day. But I didn’t want to do that. I was perfectly content to remain in bed. You see, I had very little to look forward to on this cloudy, gray miserable morning. I can remember how happy I was as a boy. I couldn’t wait to jump out of bed, meet up with my friends and play games that children play. Then, as the years drifted we became teenagers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665573603

Anthony A. Pellegrino

Anthony Pellegrino has always had a passion for writing imaginative stories. His life's work as a professional educator prevented him from finding the time to become a full time author. Although he is now involved in a great many activities, he has found the time to pursue a lifelong dream, an author. A few harsh winters a few years back in the northeast part of the United States confined him to remain in his home for long periods of time. That allowed him the time to write four published novels, The Detective, The Consultant, Miracle Man and Nightmares in Dreamland.

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Two

Loves

ANTHONY A. PELLEGRINO

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2022 Anthony A. Pellegrino. 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.

Published by AuthorHouse  10/12/2022

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7361-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7359-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6655-7360-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919039

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

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

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

This book is dedicated to

Emma

Grace

Richard

Nick

CHAPTER

1

I opened my eyes and it seemed like it was time to get out of bed and start a new day. But I didn’t want to do that. I was perfectly content to remain in bed. You see, I had very little to look forward to on this cloudy, gray miserable morning. I can remember how happy I was as a boy. I couldn’t wait to jump out of bed, meet up with my friends and play games that children play. Then, as the years drifted we became teenagers. That’s when the boys in the gang became less interested in those glorious game-playing days and more interested in young ladies. The girls began to create a wedge between my friends, the games and me. Maybe I was a little jealous of the guys who had girlfriends, maybe it was because I didn’t have one of my own.

I could not really understand why I didn’t have a girlfriend of my own. I would look into the mirror from time to time and assess my image. I wasn’t bad looking, I was kind of smart, I was athletic, had a decent personality, and an attractive body. If I could see all these qualities in me, then why not could one girl be attracted to me. Ah life. Sometimes I just don’t understand what it’s all about. I pulled the covers over my head and made myself comfortable. The light was completely shut out. A crazy thought entered my head. I thought that the darkness that surrounded me must be like death only without the consciousness that I was experiencing. Why did the thought of death enter my mind? Every person will eventually experience death. Why should we be born if it always ends the same way? The only peace a person will ever really have is when he or she closes their eyes for the very last time. There will be no more pressure, no more problems, no more fear and no more love. What’s the difference? I don’t have any love now. You know the kind of love I’m talking about. There is a price that everyone must pay for true love. Love between a man and a woman, a close friend, a relative or a parent.

The greater the love the greater the price you will eventually have to pay. I’ve paid the price for loving things and people. I had a lucky charm and I really believed it brought me luck, but I wasn’t so lucky the day I lost it. I can’t begin to tell you how sad it made me to lose that lucky charm. To make up for my loss, my parents bought a dog for me. What are you going to call your new dog?, they asked. I think I’ll call it Lucky, I replied. I fell in love with Lucky and I knew he fell in love with me. We became very close friends. I’d call him and he would come to me. I played with him and we enjoyed each other’s company. He would even sleep with me. He was also very protective of me. Then as our love for each other became more intense, Lucky became ill. We took him to the vet and he advised us to put Lucky to sleep to relieve him of his pain. We took his advice and let me tell you that was one painful day for me. I didn’t go to school for one week. My parents asked me if I wanted another dog. I refused because I didn’t want to experience similar pain sometime in the future.

As bad as the pain was that I experienced when I lost my charm and my dog Lucky, it didn’t come close to losing a human being. I was so very fond of my grandfather. I loved the man so very much. He was my mentor. He made learning math and grammar easy. He would tutor me when I found it difficult to learn something. He had tremendous patience. He would tell me jokes so that I laughed so hard tears began to fall from my eyes. He taught me how to throw and field a baseball. I respected him and I thought of him as a friend. One evening the family enjoyed a great pasta meal. Everyone was in a very good mood. There was a great deal of laughter and I was the butt of a few hilarious jokes. Gramps decided to relax in an easy chair in the living room. I asked him what he wanted to watch on television.

Put on a baseball game, I haven’t watched a game in a very long time.

I tuned-in a ball game for him and it wasn’t long before other family members joined him to watch the game. About 15 minutes later I looked at grandpa and he appeared to be fast asleep. Just look at grandpa! He wanted to watch the ballgame and he dozed off. He’s fast asleep, or so I thought. He was slumped over. Grandpa, wake up," I shouted. Mom! Dad! I think there’s something wrong with grandpa. They immediately tried to wake him, but he was in the last inning of his life. We summoned an ambulance and the paramedics arrived in less than 10 minutes. They confirmed what we really all new. Grandpa had passed away. Although he was 72 years old, he seemed to be as fit as a fiddle. They put his body on a stretcher and they took him away. Later we learned that he had a massive heart attack, and that’s what killed him. He didn’t seem to have suffered and that was a good thing. I asked myself, how could a great evening end in such a disaster? He simply closed his eyes and went for the long sleep.

The price of love this time was unbearable. Life always ends the same way. I found the next three days to be tremendously sad. I remember going into the funeral home to view his body. He lay in a casket. He was wearing a blue suit and he looked very peaceful. He looked as if he was asleep. I silently said to myself, Wake up grandpa. He didn’t. He was dead. There were lots of flowers sent in by people who knew him. I knew those flowers would soon be dead too. Some people gave eulogies and that was very nice of them.

There were a number of photographs placed on tables around the room and one that caught my attention was of grandpa and myself. We were both smiling and I reminded myself that I must have that photo for safekeeping after the wake was over. There was another photograph of grandpa in his army uniform that reminded me of a conversation I had with him some time ago. I asked him, Gramps what was war like? You heard the expression. He replied, War is hell. Let me tell you, war couldn’t be worse than being in combat. I was never so scared in my entire life. We were at the bottom of the hill that we were called upon to take. The enemy had no mercy. They threw everything at us but the kitchen sink. There were bullets, bombs, mortars and shells falling all around us. I really thought I was going to die. I was in a trench with my buddies and I was trying to dig myself deeper into the earth. It must’ve been my lucky day because I wasn’t hit by anything that was being fired at us. Some of my buddies weren’t as fortunate. Matt was on my left and his head was blown off, and Danny on my right was hit and his leg became detached. He was in extreme pain. A corps-man kept him alive but he would never walk again. I truly believe the only thing that allowed me to survive was prayer to the good Lord. Some of the other men in the trenches were terrified too. Grown men were so frightened that they were shedding tears. Suddenly from out of nowhere, our planes bombed the hill top and a short time later all was quiet and rather peaceful. Our team of infantrymen rose from the trenches and walked up the hill. When we reached the top, we planted a flag and admired the rays from the sun and a clear blue sky. Well it’s good that you are safe and sound here at home. I said.

I’m glad to be here of course, but I will admit that the war followed me home. I have nightmares. I find myself cowering from time to time in the same old trench and it seems so real. As a result, I wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat with a terrible headache. I ask myself why do people insist on fighting wars. History shows that the price of war does not justify the end result. Men, women and children are either killed or maimed for life. The innocent pay the price. Why do our leaders lead us into war? Why is it that we follow them? If they want to wage war let them lead the pack. Then he apologized for his conduct and said, Get me a beer and get a soda for yourself.

There was a funeral mass and the preacher said a few words. I think he probably said the same words at every funeral mass. He didn’t even know grandpa. After mass, the undertakers put his body in a gray hearse and carried him off to his final resting place. They placed him into the earth and covered him with dirt. His earthly journey was over. People said their last goodbyes by tossing a flower onto his grave. I truly hope that there is a place in the hereafter for people like him. Nana took his loss very hard. And why not? They were mates for a very long time. She was definitely heartbroken. Her mate of fifty years was no more. She appeared to be half a person. I shed buckets of tears too. I returned to the cemetery for an entire week to visit his grave site. On or about the third day, a tombstone with his name, his date of birth and the day he passed away was etched on it and placed on his grave.

As a result of his passing away I became somewhat pessimistic. I questioned God. Why did you have to take him away? Why do people have to die? Then I asked myself, "Why was I here at his gravesite? I’m looking at dirt and a cold stone. I guess I’m here out of respect for the person I love so very much. I simply have to face the fact that he’s gone, and I must go on with living and life.

I questioned myself, Why am I thinking about these dark thoughts? Couldn’t I think of happy moments that must have taken place in my life?

That thought took me back to my happy yesterday’s. I remember my mom taking me into her arms and telling me a story with a happy ending. The day my dad taught me to swim. My parents took me to an ice cream parlor and bought the largest bowl of ice cream I had ever seen. How about that trip to the amusement park? All the cotton candy I could eat. I’ll have to do that once again someday in the future. Starting school, graduating from school, meeting so many friends for the first time, spending many cherished moments with them. There they are, the kind of thoughts I want to carry in my head. I still don’t want to get out of my bed to greet a new day. I pull the blankets tighter over my head and I’m in complete darkness and comfortable.

An annoying sound simply won’t stop, ring, ring, ring. I guess I’ll have to answer it off. Off come the covers. I pick up the telephone and utter hello. A voice comes back over the receiver, This is Neil. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night? Is this an emergency? It’s 11:30 AM, get your lazy ass out of bed and meet me at the diner in 30 minutes. I need someone to chat with. See you then, and don’t disappoint me. There is a click and the voice is gone. Maybe I should disappoint my best friend for annoying me. I jump into the shower, dry myself off, skip to shave, and hurry downstairs to greet mom, dad and my sister. Good day, and how is my lovely mother doing this fine morning? Fine son, you seem to be in a very good mood this a.m. Your breakfast is on the table. I just finished making it. Oh, I must apologize, my friend Neil called me a short time ago and asked me to meet him at the diner for a chat. I’m so sorry that you worked so hard preparing a meal for me and I haven’t got time to sit down and enjoy it. Mom I’ll make it up to you. I’m going to take you and dad out for lunch. The treat is on me. I am blessed with the nicest mother and father in the universe. See you later.

I arrived at the diner a few minutes before Neil arrived. I reserved a table, ordered a cup of coffee and started sipping it. Neil over here. Great to see you pal. I haven’t seen you in a while. You must have been very busy."

That would be an understatement, I have been very busy.

What is it that you want to chat about, and it had better be important. What a great day weatherwise, he replies. You wake me up to tell me that the weather is nice, what’s the matter with you? I feel like making a fist and bringing your nose. That’s when the waitress arrived at our table. May I take your order? Came a pretty little voice. Take my friend Neil’s order first. Neil ordered a man-sized meal. I’ll have a double cheeseburger with the works, the side of large fries, a slice of chocolate cream pie, and a Diet Coke. I love the food in this place. And you sir? Are you still serving breakfast? Breakfast and lunch are still being served. I’ll have a few scrambled eggs and more coffee. Your wish is my command. She retreats from our table with our order in hand. I looked directly into Neil’s eyes and mention, You avoided being floored not by the bell but by the waitress who asked for our order. By the way I noticed that you ordered everything but the kitchen sink. May I suggest you had better watch your waistline, but you were smart to order a Diet Coke. So you said you have been rather busy, doing what hanging out with the girlfriend? She’s no longer the girlfriend."

Wow! What a relief. I didn’t think I could stand another female breaking up our game. So many of our friends have been taken away by females. Here’s to you friend, lifting my coffee cup as to toast him. Hold on a second friend, Honey is now my fiancé. Do you mean to tell me that you are engaged? You got that right. Have you set a date for the walk down the aisle? Not yet. Let me caution you to think about what you’re doing before you take the plunge. Right now, you are free to come and go as you please, you are your own boss. Slipping a ring on her finger really means that she’s putting that through your nose. I tell you, after the marriage ceremony is conducted she will be your boss. Well I don’t see marriage the same way you see it. Do you have a girl? I haven’t found a chick that will even date me, but I consider that a good thing. I am my own boss and I consider that a good thing. No woman is going to take my freedom away from me. Jack, think about it. You’re not being realistic. Explain that last statement to me. "When you were a baby, your mom and dad took