Randomly Chosen

To save myself the excruciating decision-making process, once a week, I will stick my hand in my box of Denton pictures and pull one out, at random, and write about it. This one was taken the night before Jerry left for Vietnam. When I'd looked at it, through the years, I'd always thought we were sitting in front of the window that was next to the kitchen table, but, now I can't figure out where we are. I guess that's the window in the living room that faces the lake. Probably so, because I also have a couple of pictures, taken that night, in front of the fireplace. One thing's for sure... all but one of us looks like we "get it" and are in shock at the prospect. I can only imagine what was going on in poor Jerry's mind. July '69, right? So, that makes him 22 and a quarter. Wow. The title "Randomly Chosen" refers to my new method of picture choosing. If Jerry had been drafted, that would've been a nice little play on words, but, alas, he volunteered, so I can't claim to have been so clever to have come up with the double meaning.

I have a couple of wonderful pictures of the night he came home, with the Kirkpatricks and huge smiles in the pictures. I'll post one of them in a few days. A blog cliff-hanger...
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jerry denton said…
I recall the next morning, standing at the door, with Mom and Mal and Mary Beth, getting ready to leave for that year. Mal was at an age at which she was pretty oppositional to her oldest brother. But she melted and started crying as they were bidding me goodbye at the door. It was the first time, since she had been five or under, that I realized she really loved me. It gave me strength that nothing else could have as I began that mission to avoid avoiding what I felt needed to be done. That, 39 years thence, she would want to put a picture of that particular night on the first page of her blog is an echo of her quiet, shy love peeking out again, and again it gives me a sustenance that nothing else could. There's something special about Madeline's love.
March 2, 2008 at 6:49 AM
Anonymous said…
Wow! This is deep. What an amazing tribute between siblings.
March 2, 2008 at 7:52 PM
ImportanttoMadeleine said…
Oh, yeah, Dentons are deep alright. My niece, Jessica, says we are like a Tennessee Williams southern drama! I don't know about that but we definitely like to think - especially about ourselves!
March 11, 2008 at 2:48 PM
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