Return to Anzio

Sherry was more to the point.

"Daddy, I know you're lonely in that house all by yourself. You need a woman to spend the rest of your life with. I know Mom would tell you the same thing. It's more than that though. Sometimes a woman needs another woman to talk to about things. I think Renita would be a woman I could tell things I wouldn't tell anyone else."

That was good enough for Mike, and the next Friday night, he sat down with Renita after dinner to talk about their future.

"Renita, what do you think so far?"

She smiled.

"I like your son and daughter if that's what you mean."

Mike nodded.

"That's part of it. The rest is could you live your life here with me?"

"And never go back to Italy?"

"No. We could go back once or twice a year. You can visit your parents and we can see more of Italy."

Renita touched Mike on the arm.

"Do you mean just live with you? I don't think I could do that."

Mike took her hand in his.

"No, Renita. What I'm asking is would you be my wife."

Two weeks later, they were married by the priest in the same Catholic Church in Farmington Hills that Mike and Julia had attended. After that came a month of waiting for Renita's visa that would let her stay in the US permanently. She was proud of the "Green Card" she carried in her purse once it had arrived, but she was more proud of being Mike's wife.

Mike was proud of Renita too. She had adapted to the US faster than he thought she would. They'd been married a month when she said she wanted to get a driver's license. Mike got her the Michigan booklet on driving regulations and she studied it for a day. When she took the test, she passed with no wrong answers. That Saturday, Mike bought a second car, a bright red Renault Le Car that Renita found in the newspaper. Four years later, Mike stood proudly as he watched Renita being sworn in as a US Citizen.

Their life together was like the lives of most people who love each other deeply. Most of the time it was a wonderful experience of sharing life with the one you love, whether that was eating out in a little restaurant when they visited Italy every year, or just taking a walk in a park, hand in hand.

If you visit Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan and ask for the location, you'll find three graves marked with a large Italian white marble headstone. At the top is the name, "Ryan". Lower and in the center are the words, "Michael Ryan" "Beloved Husband, Father, and Soldier" "March 31, 1924 -- August 10, 2010". To the left are the words, "Julia Adomi Ryan" "Beloved Wife and Mother" "January 6, 1925 -- October 8, 1971". To the right are the words, "Renita Ficoccia Ryan" "Beloved Wife and Mother" "June 24, 1925 -- August 11, 2012".

Renita had wanted them to be buried together. Julia was gone from Mike's life, but Renita knew the love they shared was still in his heart. Had he not returned to Anzio, he'd have lived the rest of his life remembering that love.

His love for Renita wasn't any less nor was it any more. It was just the love shared by two people, and what is life without love?