This is a story about three sons ...
Not my three sons (though my wife & I do have three sons) ...
Nor is it the 1960's television show, My Three Sons ...
This is a story not just about Wendy, but it begins there. Wendy fell in love with the oldest son from the Ever family. His name was Watt, and he affectionately referred to her as Wen.
I know this is often said to be only in stories, but this is a story, so I guess I can say it was love at first sight. To what degree it is true ...who really knows. But, they both agreed that the first time they laid eyes on each other, they knew they would one day marry.
If someone is not presently experiencing a moment like this, they likely are not going to welcome the prolonged loving glance between two other people. And though people often do say, "I don't want to hear all about your problems." ...in truth, they would probably jump at the chance to hear another's problems, being certainly more favorable than to observe those whom seem to have not a trouble in the world. Yet, it must be realized that for those two in love, during those moments together they may feel they are the only ones in the world.
Often others do not like to hear this kind of talk ...and each time Watt would mention it, his friends would say, "Watt Ever!" But, when he was together with Wen ...she was more seriously concerned about Wen Ever.
Well, the when became soon. Watt proposed on a starry August night ...and they marched down the aisle the following March. That was not surprising news to anyone ...as everyone who knew them had no doubt they would one day marry.
They were in the news at the beginning of the next year, as their child was the first of the new year to be born in their county ...and the second, and the third. Wen had triplets.
Wen recalls that moment as she privately celebrates her silver wedding anniversary. It has now been over 24 years since she had delivered the triplets. Back then, it was the troublesome 1940's, and her husband was drafted that spring. Watt was so loving, and a wonderful father too. While she was breastfeeding one child, he would hold the other two, comforting them as they waited their turn. She had tried to feed two at once, but that didn't work too well ...and you could tell they preferred the solitary gentle caress (the kind she longed for now).
Wen smiles as she recalls how surprised everyone had been when she'd delivered triplets ...and how humorous it was how she and Watt had come to name their sons. With World War II going on, everyone was preoccupied with the uncertain outcome of the horrific nature of the war. And patriotism was stirring up in most every young man. Watt was very much affected as his brother had already been drafted. He thought of his own sons ...whom he'd never want to have to go to war, but if they did, he hoped that they would be brave, have good judgment, and understand the necessity for both. Watt said he wanted to name their sons: Courage, Judgment, and Truth.
Wen had smiled, suggesting that those could be their middle names, as she favored more traditional first names. Watt trusted Wen's judgment, and let her pick their first names. So, they became: Darin C. Ever, Aaron J. Ever, and Justin T. Ever. And every time she thinks of her husband & the three boys, the love wells up inside with tears blurring her vision. She will love them always ...these four Ever.
Watt had reportedly been taken prisoner ...and now, nearly 25 years since she has last seen him, Wen still has no real evidence of what had happened to her husband. She doesn't know whether he is alive or not. But, after every passing year, her doubts increase that he is not.
Their sons, all being adult now, in some way all remind her of her husband ...all in different ways, as they are all quite different. She wishes so much that Watt had been around to help raise them ...as she so much wants to share in that intensity of those loving memories. But, how can anyone fully understand a love if they have never experienced the real person ...and how especially true is that with the sad occasion of an absent Dad??
Darin has collected guns, and has studied all about history and wars ...particularly, World War II. The violence doesn't seem to bother him, but Wen feels that it does ...and it is just his way of coping with what he imagines his Dad had to go through.
Aaron is quite the opposite in that way ...he says he hates war. Wen can understand his feelings, as it was the war which took his Dad away. Understandably, Aaron doesn't get along too well with Darin ...as Darin's view of war is in direct conflict with his own peace and love. At least they are not at war with each other. They just sort of usually go their separate ways. Last year Aaron went to Woodstock. He knew Darin didn't like his talk of love & peace, so he just preached a bit to him about environmental issues and concerns. He said if Darin preserved the environment, it would also be good for all the wildlife Darin likes. But, then he was sorry he said that ...because Darin likes to eat the wildlife.
Neither brother converse much with Justin. They have a polite relationship ...but don't really talk much. They feel they have little to share with Justin. Justin is quiet, and content with being mostly to himself. He spends most of his time with Mom, and is always sensitive to her needs and how she is feeling. Justin is the only son who ever asked Mom about the person Dad was. And he likes to visit Grandpa & Grandma Ever. As a teenager, he had climbed up a retractable ladder to their attic. And he felt he had found the greatest of treasures when he dusted off this old box which had pictures of Dad from when he was born to the time he had to leave for the war. Grandma had also kept a diary ...not of her own doings, but more like a day-by-day journal of her observations of each of their four children. And she let Justin read about what she had written about his Dad, all those years he was growing up ...before he was Justin's Dad.
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