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INTRODUCTION
(cont'd)
And
yet, and yet, you’re holding this book in your hands. Something
happened. Although at times they may have been no more than a
blink apart, Glenda Carter’s will to live was stronger than
her desire to die.
The
writer Annie Dillard once wrote, in effect, “that pain is
a terrible thing to waste.” Glenda Carter has not wasted
an ounce of her grief or an atom of her agony.
She
has wrestled with her dark demons and marched through those moments
she never thought she could.
Healing,
ultimately, is a gift that comes through grace. Glenda felt the
steadfast support of therapists she turned to and she felt God’s
presence alongside her in her perilous journey through grief.
She, like veterans, had PTSD. Her trauma was combat-related. While
it didn’t happen in Vietnam, it happened because of Vietnam.
And for Glenda, as for so may veterans, “the only way over
was through.”
In
the end, she experienced slightly more than a decade of grief
for each month of her three-month marriage as Mrs. Bruce L. Carter.
But now, something beautiful has been born from Bruce and Glenda’s
love. This is a book of healing, and ultimately, a book of hope
and finally, courage.
We
are never more courageous than when we dare to love. Rarely do
we even catch a whiff of just how vulnerable we are when we love
another as much, or more, than we love ourselves.
And
yet, there is a love that bombs can’t shatter and bullets
can’t kill. Our lives are mysteries wrapped in paradox. As
Glenda separates herself from her sadness, she feels closer to
Bruce than ever before.
By
the end of Sacred Shadow, Sacred Ground, Glenda Carter has done
more than negotiate a cease-fire with her self. She has found
peace, which is always so much more than just the absence of war.
At
times, healing is a lonely and treacherous journey. But what emerges
from Glenda’s saga is the reminder that what is loneliest
of all is to live a life barren of love.
Letting
go is never easy and the outcome never sure but Glenda’s
life was so blessed by Bruce’s abundant love, that in the
end, there was some for you and me.
You
are holding their love in your hands. Take it, use it, give it
away. In this barren and beleaguered world there is always someone
at our very fingertips whose life can shine more brightly through
our love.
—
Laura Palmer, author of Shrapnel in the Heart.
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