Xica's Love Stories

As Carol prepared her morning coffee, she could not believe the events of the past forty eight hours.

Her husband of 32 years had left the marriage for a younger woman, a registered nurse.

And the man whom she had an affair with in Vietnam had just telephoned and asked that she join him in Las Vegas for a couple of days.

Having served in the US Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam war, Carol was an independent and determined woman.  Vietnam had only served to make her stronger.

The memories, through the years, were sometimes painful and disruptive.  Her most precious memories, stemmed from a  love affair she had with one of the surgical doctors, a Captain Doyle Davenport.

Because, the now world known,  Dr. Davenport, had been married, the relationship had ended, at least physically, when he returned to the states.  But as they both were about to learn, the memories and the strong feelings, never ended.

Carol had searched for and found Doyle on the Internet about 10 years back. She had been proud of the medical research he was doing at Stanford University. She never made contact, because the Internet article had mentioned his wife, Carolyn and daughter, Kay.

Carol, had found herself searching for Doyle, just about the time her own marriage, was falling apart.

She had maintained her academic status as a registered nurse, upon, returning from Vietnam. Even though she was semi-retired and her husband had left her, she felt secure within herself. She felt more like 42 than 62 and was looking forward to retirement. The decision to travel, after retirement, was, in her mind, a good decision.  She had always wanted to return to Vietnam and travel the rest of the world.

Now, after the telephone call, her entire life could change.

Doyle had made contact with her, after 40 years.  He had called during a medical convention, in Las Vegas.  During the conversation, Doyle managed to  explain that, he and Carolyn had been divorced, for 3 years.  He also wanted her to know, that he was thinking of taking a part-time research position in Europe.

Carol realized that he probably, would ask her to join him for the balance of his life.

She had always respected her marriage to John, whom she had meet and married upon her return from Vietnam. Yet, she had constantly thought about Doyle and wondered what their life would have been like, had he not been married.

Doyle was the man she had shared grief, fear, joy, laugher and love, for months, in the hot sticky jungle, of Vietnam. There were times when the fear of being in a war was so overwhelming, that they all expected to loose their mind.

This men was a part of her very existence, yet she had not seen or heard from him in 40 years. From “Be All That You Can Be” to “Army of One,” the love had sustained.

As Carol sipped her morning coffee, she was feeling, like she was floating on air. Carol wondered, would she “like,” Doyle? His habits, his faults?  Was she, at the age of 62, living in a fantasy world?

Only time, would tell.