My sister hurled red wine across my dress uniform and told me I had no place in that ballroom, my father told security to get me out before I humiliated his future son-in-law, and I watched the stain slide over my ribbons, checked the countdown on my watch, and said, “You’re right. I don’t,” because in less than a minute the entire room was going to understand why I had really come.
I went home to my apartment that night and found my Army dress jacket hanging in protective plastic by my front door. It had been returned by a friend from the base who knew a miracle-worker of a military tailor.
The red wine stain had faded almost completely, but not all the way. A faint, bruised shadow remained over one of my continue reading …