The Garden Club by James Gerard (bill gates best books .TXT) 📕

Tired of fidgeting about the chair, Hal stepped over to the couch and carefully avoided the loose springs while settling down.  Eyes looked to the television but the stare was diverted and glanced upon the container holding the photo album.  The remedy for the excitement lay within reach.

Hal opened the cover and smiled at that first photo.  It was the image of his mother cradling him in her arms with a look that spoke of the unbreakable bond.  Mesmerized by it for a few moments, Hal quickly moved on.  All of a sudden the excitement was tempered by the photo of Kenneth that appeared.  It was one that displayed his affection for his little brother by an arm draped over the shoulder and a smile beaming from ear to ear.  The image was a reminder of Kenneth’s love that was disguised by the gruff exterior and strong posturing he inherited from their father.

“Funny,” he whispered, “Mom told me you’d always be your father's son and she wasn’t kidding.”

Thoughts of Kenneth came further into focus as a page was flipped and revealed a face that glowed from the idol-like worship he had for their father.  It was in that picture he could clearly witness his mother’s words proving to be true.  Hal also interpreted the photo as a testament to the destiny that had been steered, groomed, and refined by the man that sought a continuance of a tradition began by their paternal grandfather.

All Hal and Kenneth knew and remembered of their paternal grandfather was through the stories told by their father.  They were mostly tales centered on his navy career.  The onset of that career was born out of a humbling beginning.  As a young boy growing up in Nebraska, their father let it be known that his father had been committed to serving the welfare of his family first and education second.  Sustaining a living by working the family farm was most important.  Unrelenting circumstances, however, had devastated his customary way of life and forced their great grandfather to head West where he relocated his family to the growing city of San Diego and its economic opportunities.  That is where their grandfather grew in stature.

Hal stared at Kenneth’s boyish wonderment in the photo.  He could imagine that same look as their father told them how quick his dad had enlisted in the navy after the onset of World War One, and how their grandfather was a man who obeyed his superiors by not uttering one complaint even though subjected to serving as a simple sailor manning the hellish boilers aboard an old, rusty frigate.  At the same time, their grandfather having been an uneducated man yet intelligent in the ways of the world, had served during the birth of naval aviation and saw the advantage of moving up the ranks once the call went out for men to fly the planes.

Hal remembered their father saying that "Dad jumped at the opportunity and was accepted based on a keen mechanical mind and fervent enthusiasm."  And while their grandfather never had the opportunity to serve in aerial warfare, he had proven to be a gifted pilot with a way of commanding respect and admiration from all those around.  That combination led to an accelerated climb up the officer ranks until he was promoted to Captain commanding one of the first aircraft carriers the navy employed.  But before the onset of World War Two, their grandfather fell into ill-health and passed away.

Hal chuckled at the photograph of Kenneth, Dad, and himself smiling and waving in front of the airplane in which they were taught to fly.  It was not a trainer in the tradition of military aviation, and their father considered the Cessna inferior to even the simplest training planes the navy employed.  And while Hal remembered thoroughly enjoying the experience, it was by their father’s desires that Kenneth continue the family’s naval tradition that began with his grandfather. The new tradition was passed on to his eldest son.

Much the same way their father had been groomed by his dad to carry on the naval tradition, so too was Kenneth.  Hal remembered how Kenneth was so overcome with joy the day their father told him he had been accepted into the Naval Academy.  Like their dad, there had been any number of senators and congressmen willing to provide letters of endorsement praising his morals and ethics, character and charm, and aptitude and ability that went well beyond ordinary testimony.  And, as with their dad, Kenneth was to be set on a fast track through both the pilot training school and the navy’s prestigious Top Gun program.  He happily anticipated following in their father’s footstep as a respected pilot.  But while their father had been alive to witness his son climb to the position of wing commander aboard the carrier he served, he died before seeing Kenneth attain the rank of Commander and rise to the position of air commander aboard the same carrier.

“Wow,” whispered Hal as eyes stared at one of the last photographs his mother had affixed to the photo album.  There Kenneth stood by their dad, all decked out in a class A uniform.  The insignia and all the ribbons and medals added a flare of both color and adornment to the otherwise plain white suit.  A sudden rush of sadness swept over the mind as Hal remembered it was only days after that photo had been taken that his dad passed away.

It was as if it happened yesterday, Hal thought.  He remembered that just after graduating from University of California at San Diego, both he and Ron began their job at the San Diego Zoo as assistants to any biologist of any particular field of interest.  The work mainly entailed studies concerning environmental conditions impacting endangered animals of the world, and performing comparison analyses with those held captive under the auspices of the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.  But what dampened the mood of the memories more was the memory of his mother passing just months after their father.

Neither of them had been alive to witness the events leading up to the war to end all wars or the events that brought it to an abrupt halt.  To Hal, the memory was vivid.  Kenneth of all people was the hero, not because he had delivered a destructive blow that led to victory for the nation, but rather one that led to its demise and the demise of every nation of the world.

The lunacy of the decision making of politicians from either side led to multiple launches of nuclear missiles targeted for their enemy, but the intent was not instant death and destruction at ground level, but rather in the air.  The destruction was delivered by electromagnetic pulses emitted from atmospheric explosions.  Those explosions fried all forms of electronic devices that disabled both communications and the very equipment and craft needed for highly coordinated plans of attack.  After such attacks, each side forced the utilization of their enemy’s ground troops to engage each other in what virtually became hand to hand combat.  But the politicians’ maniacal mindset, their hunger and thirst for victory at any cost, led to the straw that broke the back of the world’s populace collective toleration.

Once news of the unleashing of chemical and biological agents made the news reports, a spontaneous assault against each nation’s ruling body and leaders was acted out by the citizens they ruled.  Citizens of all nations let loose their anger and began an attack against the ruling class with the intention of stopping the shear madness. The utter disregard for anyone’s welfare except their own was too much to handle.  The world’s ruling class made a frantic plea to their perspective military leaders asking for protection.  All of a sudden, the military might was set against the citizens.  The forces positioned themselves in capitals and surrounded the very buildings from which they ruled.  They protected all those that sought refuge within, and poised to strike down the unruly masses by which ever force was necessary.  Hal smiled as the thoughts focused on Kenneth.  His actions, which would have been deemed rebellious and treasonous by their father, switched the obedience from the government for which he served to the allegiance of those they were supposed to protect.

Even before the war to end all wars, Kenneth had built a reputation based on loyalty, integrity, and as a cunning tactician and an innovator in strategic warfare.  He was highly esteemed not only by those that served under him, but by those that were over him regardless of service branch or political affiliation.  Even the military commands of potential foes had the utmost respect for his warrior status.  It was this status that stopped the wars to end all wars.

When Washington D.C. was under siege, the National Guard along with all the reserve units of the Air Force, Navy, Army, and Marines were called forth to protect the president and congress from the mob seeking their death.  Kenneth and the carrier he served on had been positioned off the eastern seaboard ready to fend off a potential sneak assault by the enemy.  Once he heard of the suffering and the yearning for the government’s destruction, it was as if he flipped a loyalty switch.  While his fellow militants stood ready to actually fire upon American citizens, he thumbed his nose at protocol and issued a statement to all military forces around the world.

The call was to cease fire against one another and to lay down their arms aimed at their own citizens.  Within a matter of minutes, word of the statement spread like wild fire.  Ground forces from both sides waved white flags.  The combatants protecting the politicians went into retreat despite the commands of some of the high ranking officers.  The world’s populace broke through the barriers and doors and took captive every single politician that dared to bring down the whole planet with such pollution that death would be inevitable for all.

Hal remembered the puzzling nature of Kenneth’s actions as it was made public by the men and women who first seized the rein of power in the absence of the corrupt and fallen politicians of the world.  Thoughts reminisced through the ill-fated attempts to make personal contact with him by reason of the emergency measures meted out by the new corporate leadership.  He cringed at the mere memories of anxiety and frustration that plagued a world where just not the communication infrastructure had been crippled, but every major industry vital in providing energy and food and water had also been devastated.

Hal remembered how it was understood that the bare skeleton of the remains of the world’s communication infrastructure was restricted to those deemed vital to construct and implement the plans in building the world anew, yet desperate to connect with his only brother, the restriction was hard to bear.  The desperation was magnified by the words spoken by their mother days before her death.  The words at the time made no sense, but were to be obeyed nonetheless.

The overpowering memories flooded the mind with grievous thoughts.  Their mother had succumbed to illness just a few months after their father had passed.  Hal believed that she had been so entwined with their father that the very will to go on living without him proved to be an obstacle that could not be overcome.  But the vivid memories of that day did not focus on any particular sentiment towards her husband, but rather revelations concerning how she served as a faithful wife.

The pages were flipped back to a photograph showing their mother’s love.  The heart became perplexed not knowing to acknowledge the joy or the overpowering ache of death’s cruel touch.  Eyes welled up as they stared at the image of the warmth of arms enveloping both of her sons in a tender embrace.  From what Hal could remember, the photograph was taken at a charity event hosted by her.

A stammering chuckle penetrated the sadness of tears gently rolling down the cheeks as the eyes stared at his then eight year old chubby