The light rain was warm like kisses on my skin. Summer, our favorite time of year, was in full bloom and I knew that later I would be wrapped his arms, safe. John was turning twenty-two today and we decided that a small fuss, dinner, just the two of us, would be the perfect way to celebrate his birthday. I can feel my nerves bubbling up in my stomach like bad fish, I might be sick. John and I have been dating for three years; today, I am giving him a promise ring, a promise to be there always, as friends, lovers, soul mates. I knew that John planned our anniversary to be the same day as his birth, he would never forget it that way, and besides he hates receiving gifts from me and not giving any in return. My pocket weighed a thousand pounds. What if he hates it; what if he can’t love me forever; should I really give him such a big present? I just wanted nothing more than to see his strong face near mine; I needed him.
It felt like three days had passed since I last checked my watch, Tiffany & Co. it was John’s present to me last year. Five minutes! John should have been here three minutes ago! All I could think was something awful happened to him, it was highly unusual for John to be late, to anything. I heard my name being called, when I turned my head, a father calling his daughter. What was keeping him? Then I saw the most beautiful site in my life, John was running down the beach, clearly he knew he was late. ‘I’m so sorry’ he repeated over and over again; I had no reason to be angry at him, the delay was out of his control, I knew that.
This year, John gave me a Kassite Gold Bracelet, it was beautiful. The bracelet was bitter sweet, it was beautiful no doubt but it reminded me of his long journey every time I looked at it. I took a deep breath and presented my tiny box to him, he opened it; ‘it’s a promise ring’ I whispered. ‘I love it, and I promise, as long as I live, and far after that I will love you and care for you always’. I was so happy that I decided to spin in the warm summer rain. He grabbed my hand and joined me in my spinning. The two of us, spinning on the shore of that beach so much in love, so young not knowing or caring what tomorrow will bring.
Two days later, John was deployed to Iraq again, for another year and a half. The night he left, it rained. I went to the beach and sat on the sand where we shared our love for the first time in a year and I cried harder than the hurricane rains could fall. Once in a while, John would write, send me songs he had composed in the time he was not fending for his life and my freedom. On lonely nights, which were most nights that year, I would imagine him, playing his guitar peacefully, surrounded by warfare and death, wearing our promise on his finger; he was reminded of me through the hard times and I of him. I prayed every night, every day, that I would see his strong face again.
John was buried in his ring, it never turned into a wedding ring; his death took him away too soon. The funeral was one for a fallen soldier and for me. With John and his promise, a part of my heart and soul was buried that cold October morning. Still I sit at the site of our last reunion, the beach, the sand, the ocean, they have not changed and I can see John spinning, I can see him playing his guitar; I can see him kissing his ring praying that it is my face soon. I can see my John, strong, brave, free.
-टेलर Murphy
