STORY AND PHOTO BY ED NORTHEN

My Father was a veteran

WWII and Korea

Twenty years Navy

awarded a purple heart

in Pearl Harbor

shrapnel embedded in his back

remained his entire life

though his deepest wounds

were not war inflicted

but life imposed

our family

bearing the pain

of those unattended traumas.

Most of us are veterans

in some aspect

enduring injurious conflicts.

it could be poverty

prejudice

verbal abuse

even worse

addiction

domestic violence

sexual assault

all killers

murdering the innocence

of their victims

leaving deep trauma

unseen scars

impeding any inner peace.

In the real world

life is never easy

the American dream of ease

a fairy tale

a respected psychiatrist

once wrote  

“Life is difficult

we must accept it

this is the beginning of healing.”

The most terrifying truth is

the enemy are often

so-called normal people

who carry the same wounds  

of the traumas

they inflict

their wounds not limited

to battlefields

defending a nation

but the home

workplace

on the streets.

The ancient prophets cried out

“to do justly,

to love mercy,

and to walk humbly with your God!”

Forgiveness

given and received

is the foundation

patience

which is a virtue

enacted

love

applied liberally

the healing balm.