We were young, we were happy, and we loved each other.
After meeting and forming a bond so strong that we knew nothing could ever tear it apart, we were married.

It was a time of laughter, of joy, of quiet touches and walks along the sandy beaches. It was a time of dancing, and of holding, and of knowing one another.

The world was our playground, or so it seemed, and we took full advantage of our youth, our strength, our passions, and the things which the world, indeed, held out to us to savor and enjoy. Long walks, quiet talks, a time of planning, and working, and seemingly doing everything that we possibly could, but always together. There was never any discord, never any strife, no arguments, not even angry differences. Their was never any anger. How can you be angry at yourself when your love partner won't allow it.

Our life was completely shared. Everything was done by mutual consent, and not in a way to avoid any argument. There were never any arguments. There were discussions of how best to do one thing or another, but never any arguing, never any fighting. None of the things that are so commonplace, or seemingly so, in today's world.

We worked, we played, we shared, we loved. We hiked jungle trails together and swam in the oceans together. We nurtured our love and our life. We lived for ourselves and for each other. The world went on its way and we didn't really seem to be a big part of that world.

Our first automobile we bought together. The refrigerator and the stove for a brand-new apartment we bought together. The furniture that was custom made for our living room, was selected together. It was a happy time. It was a good time. Filled with friends and family and every pleasure that a young couple could want.

A decision was made--for one of us to finish our undergraduate education. Then, perhaps, the other one. The die was cast, the choice was made. It seemed that it would be best for me to accomplish that labor. Still, this didn't cause any problems, no fears, no thoughts that anything evil would happen as a result of a truly innocent desire on both our parts. An undergraduate education for the one, and for the other, as it might be possible.

We continued working, planning, living, loving, enjoying everything that we always had. The only small change in our lives was that with the decision to leave our home, our environment, our friends, our work, a crack in the window of our balance--unknown to us--was formed, just enough to allow some evil to enter in.

Our lives continued in an environment of comfort, of satisfaction, of creative effort, of studying and working. Our friends and family were pleased that we were so well-bonded, of course. They also equally supported our choice to return to the United States for one of us to finish undergraduate studies. This life continued for two years until it was time to be embarking on a grand adventure: my formal education at a good university to receive upon graduation, at least a Bachelor's degree and teaching credentials.

After enrolling in university, we settled down in an inexpensive, but adequate apartment. We began to acquire friends and acquaintances, and settled into as much of a routine as life at university will allow. We socialized, we went to church, we met townspeople, and generally were liked by everyone.

After about three years, I received my degree. For some obscure reason, I then wanted to embark on a PhD program. It was my thinking that with a doctorate, I could return to the country we had left, present my academic credentials and begin a teaching career and a career as director of a national theater program that, previously, had done everything "underground."

Enter the devil!

I was accepted at a major university for enrollment in a PhD terminal program. We left our new community, and friends for still another adventure. Arriving at that new university, it was apparent that a mistake had been made. The weather was different. The people were different. The school was different. Everything that we had allowed ourselves to become familiar with and which had become ingrained in our lives was gone. And we could not adjust properly or quickly enough to these new environments and attitudes.

My family became ill. My wife of not quite five years, my son of eight months were both hospitalized for amoebic dysentery. Their illness required that I drop out of the academic program and go to work. To pay the bills, as well as to support us. Our lives became very unfamiliar. We were tired, cold, and unable to think clearly. And it seemed as if every decision we made was the wrong one. We had a very difficult time supporting ourselves and we didn't want to trouble family and friends with what, clearly was something that we should have seen through.

We left and returned to the community where I received my undergraduate degree. Even there, we had a very difficult time. Emotionally, financially, socially, it seemed that a monster was at work bent on destroying what we had labored so happily to build.

It was.

Slowly, so slowly that we couldn't really see what was happening to us, the foundation of our family began to crumble. My wife became irrational and upset, I myself was probably irrational, also. Certainly I was upset most of the time. And angry. We both were. Seemingly at nothing. My son was caught in the middle. He became the victim of abusive behavior on the part of my wife. I finally went to my attorney and asked him to file divorce papers. The courts awarded me full custody of my son.

My son is a multi-drug user. An addict, if you will. He is more comfortable on the streets than in a home. I had been warned, once, by a psychiatrist at the juvenile detention center where he was being held, to not trust him. Emotionally, financially, or physically. That he was dangerous. He was. And may still be. I don't know where he is. He doesn't know where I am.

My divorced wife, whom I loved so dearly and with all my heart and soul, is also gone. Heaven alone knows where. And there can never be a repairing of the damage that was done. For the damage was done by the purest form of evil that there is. A decision made from which there was no turning back resulting in horror. I leave it to the reader to decide which decision was the one that ruined our lives.