This is how my Father, Mark, would start his letters to my Mother, Renee, when he was away in the Navy during the Vietnam War. They met at the U.S.O. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1968. My Father was a Navy sailor who originated from Winooski Vermont. My Mother was a farm girl from Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
In 2018 my Mother passed away after a brief 4 month battle with ovarine cancer. My Father, who was perfectly healthy when my Mother lost her battle with cancer, passed away exactly 14 weeks later. The last 10 weeks were heartbreaking. It started with an attack of pancreatitis. There were ventilators. There were long stays in the ICU. There was a heart attack. There was a feeding tube. There was a horrible rehabilitation center. There were emergency rooms. There was intubation, and then he was gone. The cause of death will always be listed as complications of pancreatitis, but in all actuality, my Father died of a broken heart
My Parents were not perfect, but they knew how to love each other - for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health.
While cleaning out their house, we found a box of letters my Mother had saved from my Father while he was away in the Navy. Even though I did not find the letters my Mother wrote back, my Father’s letters, alone, tell a beautiful story of the beginning of their life together as Mark & Renee.
My name is Roxane Frenette Faulkner, and this is just a bit of my parents story.
