To Love Again

By Tracy Henderson

They say true love only comes around once. The butterflies in the stomach, the cold sweats, and the panic attacks when the other person is around is truly a once in a lifetime thing. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Those are thoughts that Lucinda had when she lost her true love Raymond. He was a proud Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corp. He loved being apart of the brotherhood. Sempre Fi was the motto he lived by. Lucinda was not fond of his career choice. She was afraid something would happen to him. Then it happened.

What was she to do? How was she going to bounce back from this? Those questions haunted her thoughts constantly. What could she have done different? Would he get mad if she tried to get him to come out of the Marines? These questions kept her up at night.

Raymond was a one of a kind lover. Her high school sweetheart that she let go once. They broke up after high school graduation. It has only been five years since they found their way back to each other. Now she loses him again, this time forever. Why did he have to die? Why was she all alone now? What did she do to deserve this? Could she ever find love again? Was she doomed to be alone, wallowing in the what ifs? What does the future hold for Lucinda?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tracy Henderson
• Release date: Nov 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223035763

Tracy Henderson

Writing has been a passion of mine since I was in school. I was top writer in my Creative Writing class in 8th grade. I write from the heart and not the head. When you read my material, you are not only reading a book, but are looking in the window of my soul.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

THEY SAY TRUE LOVE only comes around once. The butterflies in the stomach, the cold sweats, and the panic attacks when the other person is around is truly a once in a lifetime thing. Once it is gone, it is gone forever.

Those are thoughts that Lucinda had when she lost her true love Raymond. He was a proud Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corp. He loved being apart of the brotherhood. Sempre Fi was the motto he lived by. Lucinda was not fond of his career choice. She was afraid something would happen to him. Then it happened.

What was she to do? How was she going to bounce back from this? Those questions haunted her thoughts constantly. What could she have done different? Would he get mad if she tried to get him to come out of the Marines? These questions kept her up at night.

Raymond was a one of a kind lover. Her high school sweetheart that she let go once. They broke up after high school graduation. It has only been five years since they found their way back to each other. Now she loses him again, this time forever. Why did he have to die? Why was she all alone now? What did she do to deserve this? Could she ever find love again? Was she doomed to be alone, wallowing in the what ifs? What does the future hold for Lucinda?

CHAPTER 1

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? Why did it happen to her? What could she have possibly done to deserve the Hell she was going through? These questions have haunted Lucinda ever since Friday when the dreaded knock came on her front door. This was the knock everyone on the Marine base warned her could happen, but she always prayed would never happen to her. Early Friday morning it happened to her.

Friday started out as any typical day. She got up at five A.M. and the first thing she done was turn on the television to watch the news. Raymond was in Afghanistan defending the country. His company was suppose to make a push to the capital to hopefully put an end to this war. He warned Lucinda of the dangers that awaited the company, but she never thought the danger would be realized on her husband. As they were making their push, snipers were waiting the advancement. One by one the snipers picked off ten members of the company, and Raymond was one of them.

When Lucinda heard Charlie company was attacked she began to get a lump in her throat. She thought about all the families that were going to be impacted by this attack. She never dreamed she would be impacted as well. Suddenly, the knock came. She did not have to question who was at the door, because deep inside she knew who it was. As she answered the door, standing in front of her was the company commander and the military police. With his head hung low, the commander gave Lucinda the news, Raymond was not coming home again.As he told her the news, Lucinda let out a loud scream before she hit the floor. Her world has been turned upside down.

The company commander and the police left, leaving Lucinda in a heap of a sobbing mess. She was alone now. No family around her, no children to call her own, very limited friend base, and most importantly no husband. What was she going to do now? Hearing the news on the television, her mother calls Lucinda on the telephone. Lucinda had to will herself off the floor to answer the phone. When she finally mustered the courage and willpower to answer the phone, her greeting was met with uncontrollable sobs from her mother. Lucinda was an only child, so Raymond was the only son in law her mother had. Hearing the news brought memories rushing back in her mother’s mind.

Her mother remembered the day she got the same knock on the door. Her husband was in the Army. He was stationed in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. He was a First Sergeant in the special forces unit. He was an Airborne Ranger. Their mission was to secure an important military post that would later become a base for the Rangers. As they were securing the post, mortar rounds went off from an unknown disclosed location killing five of the Rangers. Lucinda’s dad was one of them. As the memories went flooding through her mother’s mind, she had to muster the strength to be strong for Lucinda. As hard as it was, she was able to comfort Lucinda, and they talked for hours. They came to an agreement that Lucinda’s mom would come to the funeral and then Lucinda would move back to Phoenix to be with her mother.

After the phone call, Lucinda realized there was work to be done in preparations for the funeral. She was told the bodies of the men killed was being shipped back to the base by the end of the week. Her mother was making arrangements to be on a flight to be with her. How was she going to get through all of this? They were high school sweethearts. Memories of Senior prom came rushing  through her mind. With tears streaming down her face, she recounted every detail of that night.

Raymond was always a polite child. His father was a captain in the Marines, and hammered into him loyalty and respect. Raymond always approached Lucinda’s mom with yes ma’am no ma’am. Her father was approached with yes sir no sir. This mannerism caused Raymond to not only be liked, but admired by Lucinda’s parents. He never tried to get out of the way with Lucinda. While they were sexually active, he had a firm belief sex was reserved for marriage, so many nights he went home and took a cold shower.

The night of prom, Raymond was right on time. He politely walked to the door and knocked. Lucinda’s dad went to the door for their usual greeting. After he greeted her father, he was allowed in. He immediately went to Lucinda’s mother and greeted her. Lucinda was then called down the stairs. Raymond was dressed to the hilt. He wore a black tuxedo with a red cumber bun. His black shoes were highly shined, and you could see you reflection in them.

Lucinda came down the stairs in a red dress that went to the floor. Her dress had a white lace collar that slightly opened in the front. Around her neck was a broach her grandmother gave her while she was alive. She stood in front of Raymond as he knelt down and lifted up the bottom of her dress slightly revealing blank nylon hose and white slip on high heel shoes. As he lifted her dress he put her garter on bringing it up past her knee to where it rested on her thigh. He immediately got up