Later, an ex-girlfriend told them that during that same leave, Jonathan grew terrified one night, yelling about Afghanistan as if he were still there.
———
A few months after the funeral, Jeanette looked through a stack of books on coping that people had given her and pulled out one about what happens to someone who has been to war. It had a list of warning signs that knocked the wind out of her as she read it:
“My God, that’s it right there.”
How Jonathan had returned home from Afghanistan more cynical.
How he had shrugged off his favorite foods. (She ended up throwing away all the ingredients to make her famous wontons.)
How he hadn’t wanted to go to stripper mud-wrestling that one night. (Since when did he have to be cajoled to go with friends to an event like that?)

See the full article from “Stars and Stripes”



Leave a Reply