Nothing Lasts Forever

When Marty and Vivian agreed to marry, it never occurred to them that Sean would refuse to be Marty’s Best Man and of all things, join the army instead. For Marty, no surprise could have been less imaginable. Sean was his best friend. Sure, he knew Sean also loved Vivian – everyone in the neighborhood knew it. And Marty knew Sean had been angry when Vivian chose him over Sean. But Marty assumed their long friendship would remove any differences between them. It always did in the past. Why not now?

Unfortunately, Marty didn’t understand the intensity of Sean’s desire for Vivian. He didn’t realize Sean’s love was every bit as strong as his own – that, in effect, it penetrated Sean’s very soul.

Also, Marty didn’t believe his love for Vivian detracted in any way from his friendship with Sean. As far as he was concerned, they were two completely different things. His relationship with Sean involved a meeting of minds, interests and sympathies; his love for Vivian was emotional, physical and spiritual.

Sean never considered any of this. And it wouldn’t have mattered if he had. All that counted was his loss of Vivian. If Sean hadn’t fought Marty over her, it was for only one reason: he didn’t want to hurt the woman they both loved.

But becoming Marty’s Best Man was out of the question. When Sean said no, he also told Marty he wouldn’t be at the wedding. While Marty looked at him in painful silence, Sean added he had decided to join the army. He would be gone before the ceremony.

Everyone at Slim’s Tavern, who had watched Marty and Sean grow up in the neighborhood during the depression, said it was a shame their friendship ended. Some said they remembered seeing the two, playing baseball after school. Others said they had seen Marty and Sean in summer when they were young, swimming in Lake Michigan, or in winter, ice skating on the pond in Lincoln Park. Emory Blackwood said that only a few weeks ago they had both told him they spent the day driving up and down the Outer Drive in Sean’s new car.

Slim said after the two started working at Reinhardt Steel, he knew, for a fact, their friendship had grown stronger until they were almost inseparable. There wasn’t a thing one wouldn’t do for the other – not a thing. He said Marty and Sean were always together, and every Friday night they were sitting or standing next to each other at the bar. Slim said they drank the same brand of beer, sometimes out of the same bottle. If one was short of money, the other paid the bill. If one had a date, the other had one too, and they doubled. Everyone who knew Marty and Sean agreed that’s the way it always was – that is, until Vivian came along.

A month after his last conversation with Marty, Sean left for the army. He didn’t visit or call Marty to say goodbye. Marty felt the loss and a measure of guilt. He wondered if Sean’s enlistment had been his fault. Had he carelessly abandoned Sean?

Vivian’s love and understanding eased Marty’s pain but couldn’t erase it. Even the excitement of the coming wedding failed to keep thoughts of Sean from entering Marty’s mind. As the weeks before the wedding slipped away, they appeared more frequently and when least expected.

Marty began writing to Sean a month after he left Chicago, but for a long time Sean didn’t respond. Marty wanted to hear from Sean in the worst way, but knew Sean was in boot camp and probably didn’t have time to write. So he continued to send letters. He wrote about events at the plant: how they were all working overtime and the blast furnaces that were going day and night. Marty informed Sean security had been increased because the government was afraid of saboteurs, and steel was badly needed for the war effort. Marty told him Irene, one of the secretaries in the front office, had given birth to a baby girl. The father was somewhere overseas.

In other letters, Marty wrote about the crowd at Slim’s. He wrote how Blackwood, who was too old for the draft, was still winning at poker and making a nice living at it. Marty said Jeff Merriman and Tony Casciato were still playing against Blackwood, but Joe Taber had moved away, and Barney Newhouse had been drafted. Cigarettes were scarce, and Marty said that was hard for him since he still smoked like a chimney. Marty told Sean he started rolling his own on a little gadget he bought at Woolworth’s. The one thing he never told Sean in any of his letters was about the throbbing pain in his crippled leg that came suddenly in the middle of the night.

In still another letter to Sean, Marty wrote that the Chippewa chief, Standing Bear, had gotten “juiced up” on whiskey one night and ripped up the place pretty good before Slim and a couple of “heavies” pinned him to the floor. Slim said more than once he wished Sean had been there to help. He told Marty to tell Sean, “We really missed his muscles.”

Finally, after months without hearing a word from Sean, Marty received a letter. It was short, and in a few simple sentences Sean said everything was ok. The army wasn’t bad, and he had made a couple of pals from different parts of the country. There was plenty to eat, and the beds were ok. He had only gotten KP twice, but some of the others were always mouthing-off so they got it more often. When he got KP, he had to peel onions. Marty smiled to himself. He remembered how much Sean hated onions.

Marty wrote additional letters – usually one every few weeks. He told Sean about rationing, the occasional blackouts, and the small white Service Flags with a red border and a blue star people were hanging in their windows…one star for each person in the house who was in the service. He told Sean his mother had one.

A second letter never came from Sean. Marty didn’t know why. He often wondered if Sean was ok. Was he still angry? Marty’s worries increased as the weeks passed.

Sean had been gone almost a year when, one Sunday morning, Marty met Sean’s mother coming home from church. She appeared older to Marty, and her face seemed drawn.

He immediately asked her about Sean, telling her he hadn’t heard from him in awhile. “Is Sean ok?” Marty asked

“Haven’t you heard?” she said, looking at Marty with tearful eyes.

“Heard? Heard what?” Marty asked anxiously.

“The telegram that came…I think it was yesterday…or was it the day before? I don’t know for sure. I guess I don’t remember exactly. It said…it said Sean was killed in action.”