What makes a hero?
They say a hero is someone that has given his life to something bigger than himself.
I say a hero is no braver than an ordinary man; he is just braver for five minutes longer.
All soldiers are brave; it's what they do with their bravery that makes them heroes.
Am I a hero?
I am a soldier that put my life on the line to save my squad. It is my job; doing my job should not make me a hero.
Do I tell people, the people I love, the woman I am going to love, do I tell everyone the truth?
"Betty, can I have a few minutes alone with my family before we carry on?"
"Sure, we will go get some coffee in the kitchen."
Betty and her crew turn to leave the room. Isabella gets up and follows them out the door.
"No boo, you stay; I want you to hear this too. Please don't go."
My mom takes my cold hands into hers. They feel like an icy winter wind. They are shaking; an indescribable fear is building up in
Opening up takes a great deal of courage. Prying open your rib cage and letting everything out that is locked away hidden in your heart.Isabella has been in my life for a week. When I knew I was coming home, I thought I would come and lay in my own pool of misery. I never imagined I would meet her and that she would steal the thing that I thought was damaged the most, my heart.I am so in love with this woman that I cannot see myself living without her. There are things that I still have to tell her, but I think it is time to close the closet; enough skeletons have escaped through these doors"So out with it, soldier, what do you want to tell me?""Argh, it is nothing important, boo.""Mmm, are you keeping secrets from me, soldier?""I just wanted to tell you how crazy I am about you.""That is one of the oldest ones in the book. Why don't you try that again?""I am crazy about you, boo.""Not even close to believing yo
When you are in the Marines, everything comes to you as a surprise. You never know what your next move is going to be. What are you going to do and where are you going to be. I guess, in a way, it is true that being in the Marines and even the Military prepares you for everything.I am a man that is all up for surprises. There are those that are welcomed, and then there are those that you just wish never happened. The question is, what kind of surprise has your old platoon leader brought to your door.I quickly rush into my clothes before Isabella, and I walk to the lounge. I swear that I still smell of sex, but that is the least of my worries now.As I enter the lounge, Dobbs gets off his chair from where he is sitting across from my father. If he fucking salutes me, then I am punching him straight in the face but thank the pope, he only shakes my hand."Good to see you again, Jackson.""Dobbs, it is a surprise to see you here."In the Mari
Decisions are one of the hardest things that you will ever make in your life. They are about choosing between where you should be and where you want to be. They are those choices that change everything. Those moments when you decide to change something that you should stick by and stay committed to. You are always one decision away from a different path and a different end.I have three pairs of eyes staring back at me; what I choose to say now will definitely be one of those decisions.After several moments in silence, Isabella is the first to speak. "So out with it, soldier. What did mister hot platoon boss want?""It seemed quite serious; what did he want, Clay?" my mom is the second to ask.My dad sees the nervous expression all over my face, tries to ease the tension. "Give the boy a broken girl; if he wants to tell us, then he will.""Thank you, dad. The thing is, I don't think any one of you is going to like it."Matt and Chloe come w
Following your dreams or following your heart. That is a difficult decision to make. You spend so much time of your life living for a dream, for that purpose that drives the bones moving in your body. Then again, your heart can also give you a purpose; it can give you a dream that is worth living for too. But they say follow your head and not your heart, following your heart is a bigger risk to take, though is following your heart, not the better choice to make.That brings me to this moment. Am I going to lose Isabella because I want to follow my dreams?I look deep into that big brown eyes of hers, I am shocked to see the tears build up in them and tiny drops roll down her cheeks."Boo, no, why are you crying?"I try to pull her into my arms, but she softly pushes me away."I don't understand; what is wrong? Why are you crying? Why can't I hold you?"She is breathing short heavy breaths, and I can hear little sobbing noises coming from her
…Isabella POV…Did that break my heart? Of course, it did, every second, every minute, and every word I said. I just broke my soldier's heart and mine into more pieces than what my heart is even made of.But I can't; I will rather lose him and still be able to bump into him in town than lose him and not being able to bump into him at all. I cannot stare at someone's ashes and wish that there was more than an urn to hold.I wish he could understand that.But I wish he could also understand that I will not be the woman he gives his dreams up for. Cause he will wake up a bitter man one day and blame me for everything that I have taken away from him.I can't do that to him.The one thing I have learned about time is that it does make things better. He will come to see by the time he deploys that I will be nothing but a faded memory.I want him to be happy.Is that not what sacrifice is all made up of? I know that if i
I made a fool of myself…It is never easy to say I love you, and when you say it, you better well mean it. You should say what you feel and mean what you say. Tomorrow is not a promise, so you need to say it today.So I decided to take that risk. It was not so much that I was afraid to say I love you; I was more afraid of how she would react. The possibility that she was not going to say it was always there. The thing is that I love her even if she does not love me back.So I have made my decision, definitely for sure this time. I am doing this; I am going back to redeploy. I played my hand in love, and I failed. I will instead stick to something I know I am good at.It does not mean that my decision does not hurt. My heart is broken, I am broken, and she is broken. Sadly, you cannot have both of your dreams at the same time. If there were a way that I could do both, then I would be right there, taking both with open arms.I am busy getting
They say that life flashes before your eyes when the end is near; well, I say that is bullshit. The only thing I saw flashing in front of me was the lights of the car that nearly hit me.It was close, but the car was not the reason I fell; this damn prosthetic leg slipped and gave away under me. But that is not what Isabella saw; she saw the car heading straight for me and coming to a dead still.Now I am lying on the pavement with a head that is pounding like a bïtch. I swear if it were even possible, my goddamn leg would be broken.The pain shooting from my leg is so intense that I find myself grinding on my teeth. My eyes are still closed as I wait for the world to stop spinning.Then I hear her voice, the voice of an angel. She has lifted my head and placed it on her lap. She is sitting next to me on the floor, clinging to me, holding my face in her hands.She is crying; I can hear her voice tremble as she says my name over and over again.
To think she loves me. Hearing those words come from the lips of an angel, puts me in seventh heaven. I will love her in ways that she has never been loved before. For more reasons, she has ever been told. For longer as she will ever remember. For more than she can possibly deserve. I will show her more love than she ever thought existed in me.But now she has a secret. Coming from a man with secrets, secrets are sometimes better left untold. But is this something I would like to hear?"Boo, what is going on?""Soldier, I know how much the Marines mean to you. And I know how much you really want to redeploy.""And I am not going to redeploy if I can't have you. If you have to ask me tomorrow, then I would say the same.""But you giving up on your dream, and I don't want you to be giving anything up for me.""Boo you don't understand. I love you. The Marines are not going to love me; you are going to love me. I don't care what I need to give