Chapter+34




 * My name is Diana Garcia, my husband and I have been married for three years and we have a son named Chuy, he is 5 years old. We were a happy family until one day my husband came to me and told me the terrible news… I was in the kitchen preparing dinner… there I was, cooking happily. Until he walked in with a sad look on his face, “What’s wrong dear?” I asked. “I have to tell you something,” he said. I gave him a look. I was wondering what it was. “What is it?” I asked. “Well baby… I hate to tell you this but I have to go to war... I have to leave tomorrow”, he said. “What!!! Are you serious!!?” I screamed. It was quiet for a few minutes… “I’m sorry baby. I must go...” he said. I started crying. I sat there not knowing what to say or do.. and finally I said “I’m proud of you, you are a brave man”. He hugged me and tears ran down our cheeks...

So the next morning he left… I cried and cried… it was just me and my son for two years. Everyday my son would ask me, “When is daddy coming home? He promised he’d take me to Disneyland”, I didn’t know what to say so I hugged him and I told him “He’s coming soon baby, don’t worry”. Times were hard, my family was there for me but it wasn’t the same... they tried to make me feel better by taking me out so I would get my worries off my mind for a bit but I still felt awful. There were many nights that I cried myself to sleep … even though Chris would write to me once in a while I was still worried sick about him because I knew things were really bad in Iraq.

I felt so sad and I missed him so much… but one morning my phone rang... I didn’t want to answer because I thought it would be someone calling me to tell me bad news, but it was actually Chris calling, “Hey honey!! I’m here at the airport!!” I quickly got out of bed “Really!!! I’m going to go pick you up right away!!” I said happily. “I’ll see you then.” He said, he hung up and I ran to my sons room “Chuy!!! He’s here!! He’s here!! Get ready were going to go pick him up in ten!!” I yelled. “Finally!!!” he said. So I called the whole family to tell them the good news... a few minutes later everyone arrived at my house... “I have to go now, ill be back.” I told them. “Don’t worry, take your time we will be here to set everything up”, they said.

So I went on my way with my son... I was so excited I could hardly wait… we got to the airport... we looked around... nothing... until I heard someone scream my name... “Diana !!” it was Chris. I turned around and I ran to him... “I’m so glad you’re back I missed you so much!!” I said. “Me too”, he replied in a soft voice. I hugged him tightly... and he hugged me back but I noticed there was something different about him. We got on the car and the whole ride home he was quiet... “What’s wrong?” I asked.. “Nothing, I’m fine”, he replied. We finally got home and everyone started clapping... “We are so happy to see you again!” his dad said. “Thanks”, he replied as he walked up the stairs. I stood there wondering what was going on, so I went after him... I went upstairs and there he was... sitting on the bed... “Honey, everyone is here for you, you should come down with me”, I said. “No, I’m tired, I think I need to sleep”, he replied. It was quiet for a few minutes... he just stared at the wall… all of the sudden... he passed out. “Honey!!! Oh my god!!” I screamed. His dad heard me and he ran upstairs… “Diana!! What happened?!”

“I don’t know, he just passed out!!”... I replied nervously.. “Hurry lets take him to the hospital!” He said, trying to lift him up. So we got on the car and we drove to the hospital. We got there and right away the doctor took him in to take a look at him. We went to the waiting room... we sat there for about an hour… until finally the doctor came... I quickly got up and asked him, “Doctor! Is he going to be ok?”... “He’s awake now; he’s suffering from PTSD… Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”, He answered. “I’ve heard about that”, I said. “He will need to come in for treatment 3 times a week and he will need to take some pills because he will have trouble sleeping, but other than that he will be ok, though it will be a long process since the war affected him badly”. He added. So they kept Chris at the hospital for a few days for him to be examined… I stayed with him… I could not leave him alone…

The months passed, though he was getting a little better, he would still have nightmares and panic attacks, when that happened I took him to the doctor. My family told me that I was stressing myself out and that I should just leave him at the hospital for them to take care of him, but no... I would say, “He’s the love of my life and I’m never going to leave him”… to this day I still take care of him... even though things get rough… I’m just happy to have my baby back…**

__**Sandra Garcia**__