Interval 2: Her beginning

I’m not sure about what’s going on. What’s stopping me from telling you this story. Sometimes it’s as though this vice, this grip on my soul — is stopping me. What is it? Oh gosh, this is so hard. Or is it? Right? Maybe I should go back to the beginning. No, not my beginning, but her beginning — at least a part of it.

Rebecca’s first husband Mark was killed in the line of duty. They were both so young. But she loved Mark more than obedience to her parents, more than what other people thought of her. Mark was almost a child himself. Rebecca was nineteen, Mark twenty-three when they married, twenty-five when he was killed. They had Melody the first year they were married. Rebecca lost the baby she was carrying the day Mark died. He was a boy. They named him Joshua. They loved that name, what it stood for, for them. Be strong and courageous. Hmmmmm…

If it wasn’t for Melody, Rebecca might have given up on everything. Mark was her life. He was loving, kind. He had a sense about people which impacted his career choice. He went into law enforcement because he saw a better way. Every law enforcement encounter, from rescuing puppies to traffic stops, to armed burglary, he had a way with those who were struggling. He knew, almost instinctively, how to talk to people at their worst moments. He listened a lot more than he talked. And the one thing Rebecca and he laughed, on a nonstop…