Chapter 8

Well, things went nothing like we had planned. The week before Christmas, I got a call from my command. The unit was being activated for three months, and I was going to Turkey. There had been a strong earthquake there in October. And as my unit was a Construction Battalion, we were going to help with the rebuilding effort. And as I was the unit photographer, I was going as well.

That ruined the plans, and Kim and I both cried when I called her and broke the news. But I said I would have leave when I got home, and would spend all of it with her when I returned.

The trip to Turkey was long, with stops in England and Germany before we arrived. The area was still in shambles, and the first thing my unit tackled was the water treatment plant. And for the next three months we traveled around the region, working on bridges, hospitals, anything that needed help either being fixed up, or torn down. I even won a prize from the military for my photos of the destruction of a 15 story apartment building that they blew up.

Kim and I wrote letters every few days, and in the last one she said her mom had taken the job offer, and they would be moving soon. That one came towards the end of February, but there were none after.

I kept writing, but got none in response. I could only imagine that the move came fast, and they were still trying to get everything packed or unpacked. And when I finally flew home, one of the first things I did was try to call her. But the number had been disconnected.

I called my grandmother, and she said they had indeed moved in February. Their mom had taken the offer in Missouri, and a week later they were gone. I continued to write every couple of days, and waited.

After my April drill, I took a week off of work and drove to Oregon. There was a new family in the house, and nobody I talked to seemed to know where in Missouri they had moved to. I even found John from a half-remembered visit to his house once, and he called several of their friends. But none of them knew either.

So I drove back to Idaho, and waited. Veronica helped a lot, and she was sad for me also. But I was still her date to the Senior Prom. And I gave her a big kiss after she graduated. I kept watching the mail, for a letter that never came.

The next year, I got an offer for the Idaho Statesman, the largest newspaper in the state which I jumped at. The pay was more and it was full-time. This let me rent a mobile home and I finally moved out on my own. And by the time Veronica was a student at the University, and we were a real couple. A few months after she graduated, it had been over 6 months. And I finally realized that for some reason, the letter from Kim would never come.

I think it surprised her when after helping Veronica move into the dorm, we went for a drive and ended up on a hilltop south of town looking at the lights of the city. We had gone here several times, and quite often would make out for a bit. But she still jumped when I reached up and lightly caressed the side of her breast. But likely just because after almost two years of dating, I was finally doing it. Because she certainly did not push me away or demand I stop. In fact, if anything she moaned into my mouth and her kisses became the most passionate ever.