Taken from Creative Transformation Through Art Therapy by Trina Irish:
He stands shaking at the podium. As he relates his gut-wrenching, heartbreaking story, his voice breaks and tears flood down his weathered face. Over the course of 27 years I've heard a million of his stories, he only tears up when he tells this one. He quickly wraps it up and wishes everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day while retreating from the podium, moving as if composed of cast-iron. The air is thick with a heavy sense of loss. His fellow veterans pat him gently on the back while commenting to one another on the nice turn out this year and hastily begin cleaning up.
Trina and her father.
My dad is a Vietnam veteran, and quite a storyteller. Usually the stories illustrate in vivid detail some crazy spot he and his buddies ended up in while fishing, hunting or pulling a prank. But every once in awhile stories of war come seemingly out of nowhere, and it sometimes feels as if he's there again.... Read More