Hey, Joe!

"I started volunteering at the local vet office and I came to understand that there is a difference between killing for sport, or profit or any other reason and killing for humane reasons. We sometimes have to put down a dog or horse that's vicious. A family pet ages and gets to the point it can't even stand and euthanizing it is the kind thing to do.

"Joe told me about your being a sniper in the war. I was disgusted with him, as his motivation became clear. But, Danny, this wasn't something you did for sport or fun. Do you feel like grabbing a gun and shooting some one? I don't think so. In fact, I know you aren't like that. I can see in your eyes the pain and anguish you've suffered for doing your duty. What you did saved the lives of many of your comrades. That's something you should be proud of and take comfort in."

She walked over and sat on my lap and took my head in her hands. "Danny, let the pain go ... it's not your fault."

I looked into the depths of those velvety, violet eyes and felt tears come to mine. I started crying, silently, as did she. We held each other for a long time. Later, when I woke, I realized I had been sleeping with my head on her lap. Her eyes were closed but when I reached up to touch her cheek with my hand, they opened and she smiled at me.

In a soft voice, she whispered, "You can ask me on a date if you want."

I wanted and from then on we would get together once or twice a week when I was in town. Neither of us saw or heard anything of Joe. It was like he dropped off the face of the earth.

It was the middle of January and I was driving into Bandera on the way to San Antonio. Jim and I had decided to take on a partner to do all the work I was doing and I would take over most of the breeding part. I was driving to meet the potential partner for a couple of hours to talk about our needs and expectations. The sun was bright on my too dirty windshield as I was squinting from behind the visor to see the road as clearly as I could. I saw a sudden movement coming from the right – a flash of blue, then … nothing.

~~~~~~

It was two days later when I came out of the drug-induced coma. I had a small amount of bleeding in the brain from the trauma, several broken ribs and a fractured right clavicle. The doctor didn't even talk about the various bruises and contusions, though I was well aware of them.

Angie was asleep when I came to but awoke right away with the commotion of the doctors and nurses. It didn't look like any permanent damage – just a whole hell of a lot of discomfort. Angie had been by my side the whole time, sleeping on a cot one of the nurses brought in. A Texas State Trooper came to see me but there really wasn't much I could say, and he didn't tell me anything.

After I felt somewhat better Angie told me what had happened.

"It was Joe. I guess he just snapped. He was trying to kill you and was almost successful." Here she started crying and sat on the edge of the bed, holding my hand. "He didn't have his seat belt on and he went through his windshield into your truck. He … well, he didn't make it. The trooper said they looked for a suicide note in the wreckage but didn't find anything. They decided to list it as attempted murder and suicide."

She leaned over on me, crying, but jumped back when she felt me wince from my ribs.

"Oh, God, Danny, I'm sorry."

I took her hand and pulled her back to the edge of the bed. We talked some more, and then she went home to get some rest.

A week later I was released from the hospital and we put our plans in place. Since Jim was still around, it wasn't going to be full time for me. I had a long talk with Angie and told her I wanted to work with her.

"Angie, I want to do what you do, heal things. I don't want to go to school for seven years but I have been checking into several vet technician programs. If I do that, would you hire me?"

She laughed and said, "You betcha!"

When I finished the two-year program, we put up a building close to the highway - where the drive turned off to the ranch - for a new office for Angie to do her thing. We put a small apartment in the back of the building and Angie moved into that. We had not been in too much of a hurry to marry because both of us were adamant that this was something we only wanted to do once and to do that forever. I still had some healing to do - it took a long time for me to become comfortable with what I had done and while she was sure of our love she wanted to be even surer.

It was three years after I came home from the terrors of war before we joined our lives forever. A year after that, Daddy Jim died, just six months before Big Jim was born. We called him that since he weighed over nine pounds at birth.

My demons have gone to sleep … although they do visit once in awhile to make sure I appreciate the gifts that God has given me. With Angie's love I was able to live with the past – and to live for the future with my family.