Arts
Over the last couple of months, you've heard words and music weaving together into the true story of For The Sender: Love Letters from Vietnam. You've heard the love letters Sergeant John Fuller sent to his wife decades ago when he was stationed in Vietnam. You've heard his daughter answer those letters back in time, after finding them buried in a closet during a recent move. You've heard about how Sergeant Fuller's escape from his demons got him killed in the driveway of a house he was renting for his lover, and you've heard the letters his daughter wrote to him and from him in her heart to work through his death. And you've heard the songs inspired by those letters. You've met veterans from the Vietnam War to the current conflict in the Middle East, who are struggling with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. They've told you about using heroin and darkness to cope, and then trading the drugs and depression for the joy of the ocean. Or the spirit of a therapy horse. Or the support of a psychiatric service dog. Because there is joy on the other side. There can be something post-traumatic other than a disorder. And now, the last waltz is here. Join me on the dance through this final exchange between a daughter and her dad, who was stationed in Vietnam in 1968, and is now stationed in her heart. And hear how this correspondence shifts, from the daughter who imagines these words to the woman who really needs to hear them: her mother.