This a story of a little boy named Bobby that I never knew. I will start at the beginning when a young girl born in 1911 met a man that would become his father. She grew up in a world where children knew hardship and were given adult responsibilities before finishing grade school. This was simply the way of life back when our country was fighting to become the best. Soon after the wedding, she gave birth to Bobby’s older brother and best friend through life. They would endure and share a lifetime of memories together that sealed an unbreakable brother bond, both surviving because of a mothers love that never faltered even after she was gone.

This baby face I have never kissed but know so well as it is one I grew up alongside and then again held as my own. Little boy Bobby was precious and sweet, one I would have loved to meet. The two beautiful minds holding close with perfectly combed hair by a devoted mother who took such care. Love and protection had already formed a strong bond and their futures direction.

In the forties, you grew up saluting the flag and showing respect to all military men as most were the fathers and brothers of the neighborhoods. Two young boys that grew up fast with moments in their lives that would forever last. Some good some not, so off they would run to play army in the tall woods.

A boy and his dog is part of all great stories. He will go on to have other tales that will evoke a smile when speaking the name of special dogs during certain times in their lives.

Bundled tight in a wool coat buttoned by hands that never let go. A finger tracing his forehead to move hair from eyes that already saw more than probably you and I.  Oh, how precious this young boy was to his mother as she smiled and ironed his clothes during daylight and cried through the night.

This is seven years old little Bobby. He has moved from Brooklyn NY to Michigan with his family. His mother will have another son in the short time they lived in that state. These innocent brown eyes of his mothers are staring through my soul and will haunt me forever with what I can not change. Would little boy Bobby tell me what haunts his dreams? Would he share what was stored deep in his hearts chambers? Or would he simply smile back as he and his brother hold hands and skip away?  I want to wrap my arms around his little body and hold him tight as I tell him how much I love him. Tell him that I understand everything now and that one day I will miss him terribly. I would kiss his cheek and help his mother gather her three young sons as she moved away by herself in the mid-nineteen-forties to raise them alone.

Bobby has grown into a hardened young teen with rebellion leading the way, all the while knowing unconditional and undying love from his mother.  He and his brother will both join the military to give them structure and purpose. One will travel the world as a Marine then choose to navigate rough seas for life, the other will become a decorated and elite Special Forces Army Green Beret with their baby brother following in the same footsteps. All three will become fathers, not knowing the greatest gift to their children would be the same mother that saved them with her love.

This smile and those hands will go on to save more than just her sons, long after she has gone back to heaven to rejoin the angels.

I know she is waiting at the gates to embrace her little boy Bobby with his brother standing open armed the same as their mother.

The story behind these three women and two young boys shown below is one of endurance, perseverance, survival, and above all else unconditional love. Little boy Bobby is waiting to join them so he can once again hold the hand of his mother and run free with his brother, leaving her love as his legacy.