Rings of the Tree
Prologue
As she rounded the curve, she remembered the last time she saw him sane…and the first time she realized that he was not…at least, not always.
Later, she somehow felt she should have known. He had told her, or at least, had tried to tell her. She was sixteen and he was 18. They were sitting on the loveseat in the den. He shared stories of his father and the crazy things he had witnessed. Things like his dad chasing his mom through the house with a skillet, and other bits and pieces she couldn’t recall.
But somehow she didn’t get it about his dad, not until many years later when she witnessed it firsthand. Right now, however, Lanie was remembering Jeff, in all his handsome goodness, his sense of humor, his virility, his intelligence, his insanity.
She drove on, wanting to shake out the bad memories, clinging to the good ones.
He was handsome, loaded with personality and very smart. His teachers liked to say that Jeff could learn more looking out the window of the classroom than others could with concentrated study.
As he matured and married, life was an open road to adventure. His intelligence and wit led him to new and exciting places all over the world. He became a linguist, a mathematician, a computer specialist, an interrogator of refugees and defectors from communist countries, a school teacher, a college professor.
He loved airplanes. Open-cockpit bi-planes of World War II vintage were his passion. Flying, with goggles in place and white scarf whipping in the wind, was one of his greatest pleasures. Another was building and racing sailboats, and his expertise led him to championships in world competition.
He traveled the globe, settling for a time in North Africa and later in Europe. A goal-oriented achiever, Jeff was always reaching a little higher.
Suddenly, at the age of 32, something happened. He felt unusually happy, creative, energetic, and at the same time, a little scared. For days, sleep seemed unnecessary, and was, in fact, impossible. He was Jesus Christ, his black dog was Satan. The time was Halloween, and the costumed children at the door frightened him.
This PhD was manic-depressive. This manic-depressive was her husband, and they were embarking on another new adventure, this one not of their choice. Their lives would be forever changed.
Excerpt from Rings of the Tree, by Ann Miner Heimback
