Half a Life Together

Her long blond hair immediately captured his eye. Even from a distance, Geodee looked hot to Eric. When she began walking toward him – Eric still can’t recall why she did – their eyes met and she smiled, recognizing him as the bag boy from the grocery store.

Eric remembers the moment he first saw her. He can even tell you the date.

Geodee felt the attraction too. When Eric joined the Navy at age 20 and went to boot camp in Chicago, 16-year-old Geodee quit school and ran away from home to be with him. Poor but happy, they got married on Valentine’s Day – the first day they could legally tie the knot after Geodee’s 18th birthday.

From then on, Geodee built her life around Eric. She worked, got her GED and started on a college degree, but became pregnant with the couple’s first baby. After that, Eric wanted her to stay home with their child. He promised he would work harder to provide for them.

Geodee says she believed him. Eric seemed invincible, “like nothing could ever happen to him, everything was going to be fine, and I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

Now 32, after spending half her life with him, she’s scared to imagine him gone. What troubles her most is knowing that he’s going to suffer at the end. She doesn’t want her love to hurt like that.