i don't really like this story.
I can still remember that day when we went to the hospital. It was very cloudy and the rain fell in large drops. We walked through the automatic doors and up to the front desk.
There my father asked, “What room is Rose Caruso in?”
The man at the front desk replied, “Room 403. Here, you’ll need these visitor passes.”
We walked through the lobby and got on the elevator. My mother pressed the button that read ‘4’ and we rode it up. We got out and walked down the hall. The walls were a pale blue-green color and there was an odd aroma in the air it seemed. I have always hated going to hospitals. The thought of so much pain and suffering always weirded me out and to me, it always smelled like the crappy hospital food which consisted of slop and made me feel relatively queasy.
My family and I approached the door that read ‘403’ and entered. In the room, I saw my grandmother. She looked very frail and weak and had several tubes sticking out of her. I did not exactly understand the concept of what was going on in my young age of 7 years old. It appeared that my grandmother was losing her 3-year battle with cancer and was slowly wilting away. One by one, my father, mother, older brother and sister all went up to Grandma to tell her they loved her and say their final goodbyes.
“Is it my turn now?” I asked my mom.
“No” my father replied. “Just let grandma rest.”
“Shut up, Bob” my Grandmother hissed at my father. “Come here, John” she said to me lovingly.
“Hi Grandma” I said.
“Hi Johnny” she replied to me.
“Are you going to heaven soon? With the angels and Grandpa?” I asked her.
She siged. “Grandpa. Did I ever tell you about him?”
“Nope” I said.
“He was a remarkable man” she said.
“Please Mom” my father interjected. “No stories today. Just get your rest.”
“Bob I’m not going to tell you again. Shut up. I want him to know about his grandfather” she said hastily. “Your grandfather was the most amazing person I have ever met. We met in the spring when I was twelve years old. He was fourteen, two years older than I was. Every afternoon I would walk home through the park with my best friend Margaret. I can still remember the day. As we walked home that sunny afternoon, a young and very handsome boy rode his bright red bicycle down the path. That boy was your grandfather, Henry Caruso.
As he slowed down, I asked him if I could try riding his bike. He smiled and said it was okay. I got on and began riding very wobbly down the path leaning from side to side as I went. Then I fell over which was bound to happen and scraped my knee. Henry picked me up and carried me home where he patched up my leg. At that point in my life, it was about romantic as anything could ever be. And after that day, we were inseparable.
At first my parents didn’t like him. They thought since he was older he would be a bad influence on me. That would have discouraged most boys, but not Henry. He was very polite to my parents and showed that he was a respectable young man who could be trusted. I think my father tried to scare him at first being that he was a police officer. Henry used to be so nervous around my father. His hands would clam up and I could just tell how nervous he was. It was very cute though.
I still remember he was such a hopeless romantic. He had very strict parents who were often hard on him and set many rules. On Valentine’s Day, I didn’t think he would be able to come and see me. To my surprise though, he came. And he made the night magical. That night he asked me to be his girlfriend which was so incredibly romantic. He was my the boy of my dreams, my fantasy, my wish upon a falling star, and my love and I just couldn’t imagine ever being without him.
We stayed together throughout all of high school and college as well. College was very hard for us. I was in Rhode Island and he stayed here in New Jersey. It broke his heart for him to watch me go. At the same time though, it helped strengthen our relationship since we were forced to be in such a difficult predicament. While I was away though, I always thought to myself, would I be willing to come home and not have the love of my life anymore because I decided to have a fling in college? It wasn’t worth the consequences. And every time I came home to New Jersey, there he was. He was my dream come true and I don’t know what I would have done without him.
After we graduated college, your grandfather asked me to marry him. We were so in love. It was like something you read in a fairy tale or saw in a romantic movie. Every day just seemed to better than the last.
Soon we were happily married and had moved into our apartment in Jersey City. I had my job at the drugstore and Henry worked for a successful law firm. Not long after moving into our apartment. I became pregnant with your father and shortly after your Uncle David. Our lives seemed picture perfect, and for the most part they were.
Unfortunately, that was about the time when the war broke out. The demand for men in the service became very big and soon there was the draft. Henry was called to serve in the Navy. I was crushed that the love of my life would be so far from home fighting in a war. I was so afraid of what could happen. We both agreed that things would be all right though. We had gotten through college with me in Rhode Island. We could make it through his tour of duty.
The day he had to leave, I cried in his arms before he boarded his ship in New York Harbor. He told me everything would be alright and to look after the boys. ‘Promise me that you’ll come home quickly and safely’ I begged of him. ‘I promise’ he said. ‘I love you’. And just like that, he was gone. Out of my life. And I missed him so terribly.
He would often write to me and tell me of his open sea adventures as his ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He told me how much he loved me and how much he missed me and longed to come home to me and our children. In every letter he would always say, ‘I’ll see you very soon’ and sign it: Love always and forever, Henry Caruso. Even though he was not physically home with me, he continued to be such a hopeless romantic. And I could still see why I had fallen so in love with him.
And every night, before I went to bed, I would thank God for bringing him into my life and ask Him to bring Henry home safely to me. I guess some prayers just aren’t answered though.
One day, the letters from Henry stopped. Instead of a letter, I got a telegram from the United States Navy saying that his ship had been attacked and destroyed by German submarines in the Atlantic Ocean. At first I was shocked and devastated, then angry, and then depressed. I didn’t want to believe that Henry was gone. Even through all of that, I still kept my hope, and waited for him to come home. I have waited the rest of my life to come home. And it seems that finally I will be with him again soon. I never loved another man. Your grandfather was my first, my last, my everything. He was the most amazing man I have ever met. And now you know his story.”
After finishing the story, my grandmother let out a deep sigh, smiled, and leaned back in her bed. Then she closed her eyes. The heart monitor let out a long beep and read zero. She was gone.
There my father asked, “What room is Rose Caruso in?”
The man at the front desk replied, “Room 403. Here, you’ll need these visitor passes.”
We walked through the lobby and got on the elevator. My mother pressed the button that read ‘4’ and we rode it up. We got out and walked down the hall. The walls were a pale blue-green color and there was an odd aroma in the air it seemed. I have always hated going to hospitals. The thought of so much pain and suffering always weirded me out and to me, it always smelled like the crappy hospital food which consisted of slop and made me feel relatively queasy.
My family and I approached the door that read ‘403’ and entered. In the room, I saw my grandmother. She looked very frail and weak and had several tubes sticking out of her. I did not exactly understand the concept of what was going on in my young age of 7 years old. It appeared that my grandmother was losing her 3-year battle with cancer and was slowly wilting away. One by one, my father, mother, older brother and sister all went up to Grandma to tell her they loved her and say their final goodbyes.
“Is it my turn now?” I asked my mom.
“No” my father replied. “Just let grandma rest.”
“Shut up, Bob” my Grandmother hissed at my father. “Come here, John” she said to me lovingly.
“Hi Grandma” I said.
“Hi Johnny” she replied to me.
“Are you going to heaven soon? With the angels and Grandpa?” I asked her.
She siged. “Grandpa. Did I ever tell you about him?”
“Nope” I said.
“He was a remarkable man” she said.
“Please Mom” my father interjected. “No stories today. Just get your rest.”
“Bob I’m not going to tell you again. Shut up. I want him to know about his grandfather” she said hastily. “Your grandfather was the most amazing person I have ever met. We met in the spring when I was twelve years old. He was fourteen, two years older than I was. Every afternoon I would walk home through the park with my best friend Margaret. I can still remember the day. As we walked home that sunny afternoon, a young and very handsome boy rode his bright red bicycle down the path. That boy was your grandfather, Henry Caruso.
As he slowed down, I asked him if I could try riding his bike. He smiled and said it was okay. I got on and began riding very wobbly down the path leaning from side to side as I went. Then I fell over which was bound to happen and scraped my knee. Henry picked me up and carried me home where he patched up my leg. At that point in my life, it was about romantic as anything could ever be. And after that day, we were inseparable.
At first my parents didn’t like him. They thought since he was older he would be a bad influence on me. That would have discouraged most boys, but not Henry. He was very polite to my parents and showed that he was a respectable young man who could be trusted. I think my father tried to scare him at first being that he was a police officer. Henry used to be so nervous around my father. His hands would clam up and I could just tell how nervous he was. It was very cute though.
I still remember he was such a hopeless romantic. He had very strict parents who were often hard on him and set many rules. On Valentine’s Day, I didn’t think he would be able to come and see me. To my surprise though, he came. And he made the night magical. That night he asked me to be his girlfriend which was so incredibly romantic. He was my the boy of my dreams, my fantasy, my wish upon a falling star, and my love and I just couldn’t imagine ever being without him.
We stayed together throughout all of high school and college as well. College was very hard for us. I was in Rhode Island and he stayed here in New Jersey. It broke his heart for him to watch me go. At the same time though, it helped strengthen our relationship since we were forced to be in such a difficult predicament. While I was away though, I always thought to myself, would I be willing to come home and not have the love of my life anymore because I decided to have a fling in college? It wasn’t worth the consequences. And every time I came home to New Jersey, there he was. He was my dream come true and I don’t know what I would have done without him.
After we graduated college, your grandfather asked me to marry him. We were so in love. It was like something you read in a fairy tale or saw in a romantic movie. Every day just seemed to better than the last.
Soon we were happily married and had moved into our apartment in Jersey City. I had my job at the drugstore and Henry worked for a successful law firm. Not long after moving into our apartment. I became pregnant with your father and shortly after your Uncle David. Our lives seemed picture perfect, and for the most part they were.
Unfortunately, that was about the time when the war broke out. The demand for men in the service became very big and soon there was the draft. Henry was called to serve in the Navy. I was crushed that the love of my life would be so far from home fighting in a war. I was so afraid of what could happen. We both agreed that things would be all right though. We had gotten through college with me in Rhode Island. We could make it through his tour of duty.
The day he had to leave, I cried in his arms before he boarded his ship in New York Harbor. He told me everything would be alright and to look after the boys. ‘Promise me that you’ll come home quickly and safely’ I begged of him. ‘I promise’ he said. ‘I love you’. And just like that, he was gone. Out of my life. And I missed him so terribly.
He would often write to me and tell me of his open sea adventures as his ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He told me how much he loved me and how much he missed me and longed to come home to me and our children. In every letter he would always say, ‘I’ll see you very soon’ and sign it: Love always and forever, Henry Caruso. Even though he was not physically home with me, he continued to be such a hopeless romantic. And I could still see why I had fallen so in love with him.
And every night, before I went to bed, I would thank God for bringing him into my life and ask Him to bring Henry home safely to me. I guess some prayers just aren’t answered though.
One day, the letters from Henry stopped. Instead of a letter, I got a telegram from the United States Navy saying that his ship had been attacked and destroyed by German submarines in the Atlantic Ocean. At first I was shocked and devastated, then angry, and then depressed. I didn’t want to believe that Henry was gone. Even through all of that, I still kept my hope, and waited for him to come home. I have waited the rest of my life to come home. And it seems that finally I will be with him again soon. I never loved another man. Your grandfather was my first, my last, my everything. He was the most amazing man I have ever met. And now you know his story.”
After finishing the story, my grandmother let out a deep sigh, smiled, and leaned back in her bed. Then she closed her eyes. The heart monitor let out a long beep and read zero. She was gone.