a true love story from the past.....

Charles was a handsome man who, when called to service, joined the Army during WW2. He fought in France and it was during the Battle of the Bulge that he came into contact with a grenade. Half of his face was blown away and he was blinded. Life hung in the balance for him, but he survived and when he was strong enough, was sent to an Army hospital in San Francisco to continue his rehabilitation. It was there that he was assigned a nurse named Beatrice. She was about five years older than him and just a tiny woman with a huge heart of gold. Over the days, weeks and months, as she nursed him back to health, something else also happened: they began to fall in love. There was no real plastic surgery back then and Charles was quite a ghastly sight: he had a huge dent in the left side of his face and where an eye should have been, now was a deep scar with a glass eye sewn into place. His other eye, though it moved, couldn’t see. He needed to learn to walk again, to speak again and do all the other things required of being able to care for himself. Beatrice, or “Bee” as he called her, was right by his side and when he was finally able to, they walked down the aisle together as man and wife.

Now, to many, this was a true “Beauty and the Beast” moment. Bee was a beautiful woman, both inside and out. She was gracious towards all and had the patience of a saint. I am sure that Charles sensed this; though he couldn’t see her, he could feel the great intentions deep within her heart. They raised two children and Charles was able to learn Braille and earned a degree in social services, where he worked for over thirty years. He had a Seeing Eye dog, which made all the difference in his independence. Though blind, he didn’t allow his disability to interfere with raising a family or work. He was loved and respected by many.

When his beloved Bee passed away after over fifty years of marriage, Charles pined for her. After just a few months, he too passed on, to spend eternity with the one true love of his life. He often had said that without “his Bee,” he couldn’t go on. She was the Light in his life, the one who taught him that despite all obstacles, one just does not roll over and expect life to wait on you hand and foot. One needs to go out and meet life and embrace it, with all of it’s struggles and pain as well as its joys. 

This story is written in memory of my Uncle Chuck and my aunt Bee…you will always have a special place in my own heart. When the struggles of life get to be too much for me, I remember your love and your grace and how they made each day so much better for you…as it does for me. Thank you for the life lesson I carry deep within my heart.