You hear about combat vets going all to pieces during thunderstorms. Grandpa didn’t mind them. With him, it was snow. Half inch of it and he was back in Bastogne, yelling about his buddy Stuart who got run over by a German tank and pushed into the permafrost. Grandpa would run outside in his pajamas screaming STUART! STUART! and digging at the ground with his bare hands until we pulled him back inside the house. We’d watch the forecasts real careful, and if there was a hint of snow we’d strap him in a chair faced away from the windows.
Such a vivid story, I have poor Grandpa running around in my head.
From watching my mom and dad experience similar fears before the, I know how terrifying those memories/visions can be. They are real for the person seeing, hearing, smelling them. In your story, I could see grandpa digging in the snow. Well written.
Vivid storytelling and great voice as always, Randy.
I think Grandpa needs a bit of therapy to help him manage these events. Tying him to a chair seems extreme for an old man.
Oh, that is just too too real. My Papaw John was that way about WW2. He hated the cold, wet nights. Always nearly roasted us all out with the fire, just to avoid the flashbacks. I understand him now in ways I never did, and realize what he was teaching through those long nights by the fireplace.
Goodness! I’d hope they eventually found a more humane way to deal with their grandfather’s PTSD.
PTSD is a terrible monster. So glad Grandpa had a caring family. These days, the stories are much sadder… and lonelier for them.
PTSD and its perils.
For many the terrors of warfare live long in the mind. A fine piece of writing
Very sad. War does awful things; takes many victims.
Well told. Back in the 50s we never heard of PTSD — you were just a bit cracked.
A tragic story that you told very well.
Poor Grandpa. So many suffer in silence.
Great play on the prompt.
– Lisa
Poor grandpa to have such awful memories, that snow triggers him to act, to stop his friend from dying. Great write!
Holy Crap. I can just see grandpa being strapped and digging. Great visualization