The tears flowed freely and without any attempt to interrupt their path as they made their way down Seven’s face and dripped into his lap. He was unaware that he was even crying as he sat in the living room of the Thomasville farmhouse that he had grown up in. He knew that the Colonel was not well after suffering the stroke, but he was in no way ready for the experience that he encountered upon his return to the home. The old man was gone; the stroke had done in a matter of days what a reckless combat-filled existence had failed to do in fifty years. His face was pale and lifeless, his eyes blinked, and his lungs filled out of habit, but for all intents and purposes the Colonel was gone.
He was neatly dressed and groomed at the hands of Gran. He still looked like the Colonel, but his eyes were vacant and empty. His mouth remained closed and refused to display his aging off-white teeth. He made no sounds other than the rasps of seventy-year-old lungs taking in and expelling oxygen. There was just nothing there that represented the great man and war machine pilot.
In the days since Seven’s return home, he spent countless hours sitting in front of the shell of his hero, hoping that even for a brief second the man would return to his earthly vehicle and acknowledge his presence. That time never came.
Seven was never a religious man, but he found himself begging God to return his grandfather. He grew up attending church at the instruction of Gran. It was more of a southern culture thing than any type of spiritual education. Southern churches are social and gossip gathering places where important ideas and conversations are exchanged after the Sunday sermon. It was a fashion show, a community meeting, and a gossip column. Gran made sure her family never missed a Sunday.
Seven thought for hours about his Southern Baptist upbringing as he endured the disappearance of the Colonel. He questioned the very existence of a God that would take a man’s soul and leave an empty vessel in its place to overwrite the memories that his loved ones had of the great man and his