With joy or tears or misfortune
Every moment is controlled by his powers
So fear not any evil that is set before thee
For his love will surely set you free
The Lord will forgive us
As he has done many times before
By our love and faith in him
He will open every door
~ Gemini Joe ~
G
od was good to me. I married a beautiful girl that I loved very much. The Army moved me from the barracks and gave us an apartment off base in Michigan. At first, your mom was happy, but I guess it was a big adjustment for her and she was homesick. This caused us a lot of arguments. I turned to drinking, because I didn’t know how to handle it. Finally, your mom had enough of me and went back home to New York.
The holidays were coming and I was so lonely. I begged her to come back and promised that I would do better. She did, but on the day before Thanksgiving, her mother, had a stroke. She blamed herself for leaving, but mostly, she blamed me. That was that. This time, she stayed in New York and I had to go back to the barracks.
The next year, I got an honorable discharge. My mom would have been so proud. I left Michigan and reunited with your mother. Things were hard back then and it was rough getting work. We had no other choice but to move into my father’s house. The walls were thin and my family was loud. Your mom wasn’t happy. I guess I couldn’t blame her. I was spending a lot of time at the bar and she had to deal with my family. When it got too bad, she left and moved back to her father’s house, but when he found out that she was pregnant, he said, “Go back to her husband.”
The only way she would come back if I promised to stop drinking and find another place to live, so I found a place on the same block where I grew up. The landlady Josephine had loved my mom and gave us a studio apartment for low rent. Then you came onboard. I will always remember that you, my first-born made me feel like I was becoming a man of responsibility. I had a family and I loved it. I wanted to name you after my mother, Florence, but your mom wouldn’t have any of that. She said that there were too many Florence’s’ in the family already. I guess she was right. Both of my brother’s daughters were named Florence and my sister’s daughter, too. So we made it your middle name. I made sure that your crib would face the garden. What a beautiful garden! I wanted you to grow up seeing beauty.