"I said to go and clean your room! Go now!” Lisa screams at Colbie, as she is trying to pinch her forehead., Colbie walks back to his room with his head held down and he was about to cry as he steps into his room and he closes his door. “Why is mom, acting so differently now? I don’t get it, she used to smile and laugh and all she does now is sleep and scream at me. I think I want to go live with grannie again. I wonder if grannie knows how she has been acting. I think I’ll call her and tell.” Colbie says as tears roll down his face. He wipes his eyes and goes to his door and slowly turns the knob, to try not to make a sound. He looks to see if his mother can see him and she has head under her covers and she is crying again. Colbie walks over to the phone in the living room and he picks it up and takes it back to his room. He calls his grandmother “Grannie, it is me, Colbie, can you come and get me?” Colbie says as he tries to hold back his tears and he listens to his grandmother.”No, ma’am, she is… there is something wrong with…” Colbie continues. “Please, grandmother, I’m scared, I want to come stay with you.” He says as he’s in full crying mode. “Okay, I’ll be ready, thank you.” He says as he hangs up the phone. He starts to grab some of things and put them in his backpack. He remembers something that his grandmother told him to do, whenever he gets scared. So, he drops down on the floor and leans up against his bed and bows his head and puts his hands together for prayer.

Next thing Colbie notices is his grandmother and one of his uncle coming into the house. “Lisa, Colbie, Lisa, and Colbie.” they are calling. “I’m here grannie”, and he comes out of this room, with his backpack and his thundercat toy. He runs over to her and hugs her. “Where is your mother?” she asks him. He point towards her room; she motions to her son to go and check on her. He walks down the hallway, “Hey sis, Whatcha doing?” he says as he walks into her room… “Hey, sis, are you okay? Come from out of the covers and let me see you…” he continues to walk over to her bed. He pulls the covers off of her and sees her all balled up in a fetal position. He hollers out to his mother to call an ambulance to come and take her to the hospital. Colbie wants to run in there, but his grandmother has a tight grip on him, so he can’t go. He starts to cry and she comforts him, and as she looks for the phone. She spots another wireless phone and walks with Colbie over to the phone. She calls a family friend who is a policeman and she tells him to come over quick. They wait outside on the porch and a few minutes, Darnell. He runs up to the porch. “Hey, Mrs. Cooper, what is going on with Lisa?” he asks. Mrs. Cooper says, “just go into the room and see what you can do for my baby, can you please.””Yes, Ma’am.” He heads off towards Lisa room; ask he calls out her name. He gets into her room and sees her brother trying to get up her from the bed. He turns around and goes to the bathroom, grabs a face towel, and runs cold water on it and rings it the water and comes back into the room. “How long as she been like this?” he asked her brother. He shrugs and says, “She was like this when he got here about 15, 20 minutes ago.” He answers back. “Okay, what is going on is PTSD. I’ll take her to the VA hospital. Help me get her up and into my car.” Darnell says. He picks up her and her brother runs up to the front door and opens it for them; then he runs out to the car and opens the back door. “Okay, you drive us there and I’ll stay back here with her. Do, you know how to get to there?” he asks him. “Oh, yes, I’ve been there with her before.” He answers back. He turns and get into the car and looks back at his mother and says, that they are taking her to the VA.

A week later, Colbie gets to finally go see his mother at the hospital and he is excited and doesn’t care that he is missing soccer practice. He makes sure he is completely cleaned, his shoes are tied up right and he looks into the mirror and brushes his hair. He then runs into the living room and grabs his hand made get well card and sits waiting on the porch and thinks about that day, she was brought to the hospital and what his grandmother told him, before she put him to bed that night.”Baby, sometimes military people start to feel bad about things they did or things they wish they had done differently and they feel bad about and don’t know how to deal with all of that madness that the devil fills their heads with. And she’s going to see the people who know how to help her deal with it.” She said as she was pulling the covers up on him and kisses him on the cheek. He remembers how she started changing after she got home the last time, especially after she came home that one day from one of her friends used to work with funeral service. She hasn’t been the same every since that day.

He looks up and sees his uncle driving up and he runs back into the house” Grannie, uncle Alonzo is here to get us.” He runs back out of the house and runs to the car, and “hey,” he says to his uncle. “Hey young man, you loving pretty good there, what do you have there? He asks Colbie.”Oh, it’s a get well card I made for mom.” Colbie says. “Well she will like that. You know she loves you right and don’t want anything to happen to you, she was just all stressed out and needed some rest. When she is better, she will be back home, okay, so you have to be a strong little man for her okay. “ his uncle tells him, just then Colbie’s grandmother walks to the car and Colbie goes over to the passenger’s side and opens the door for his grandmother and helps her to get in the car and then he gets into the back seat and put on his seat belt and then they head off to the hospital. Colbie sits back there and he thinks about all his uncle just told him.

Finally, they get to the hospital and he helps his grandmother out of the car and they head up to the hospital as they walk into the hospital, Colbie sees one of his mothers other friend. He tries to wave at her, but she doesn’t see him. They walk over to the elevator and get in and go up to the 7th floor. “Seven that is a good number, that’s the Lord’s number, you know Colbie?” Colbie’s’ grandmother says. He nods his head. He is so anxious to see her. Finally the elevator stops and he follows this uncle and grandmother to where his mothers’ room is. They get there and she not in the room. Colbie starts to get nervous and his uncle sees it. “It’s okay little daddy, they probably have taken her to get some work done. Let’s go to the front desk and see where she is and just as she says that, the nurse is bringing her back in a wheelchair to her room. Colbie spots her and calls out to her and runs to her. “Mom!, Mom, !, are you okay, where did you go, why are in the wheelchair, did you fall, what happened to you. “ he keeps asking her questions. The nurse says,” no she didn’t fall, she just had to get some test done and we don’t want her to get too tired or fall on us, so we make her ride in the chair. You like the new chairs we have? He stops and looks at the new kind of wheel chair that she is sitting in. “May I take her to her room. “ He asks the nurse. “:well, I’m not supposed to, but I guess this one time is okay, just don’t run off with her, take her to her room I’ll be following you. “ She says with a smile. Colbie gets behind her and starts to push her back to her room. She smiles and says” Well mother, did she come with you, too?” Alonzo says “yes, she’s in your room, you know how she is.” They make it to her room and the nurse takes over, as Colbie pulls his card out of his backpack and he waits until the nurse finishes helping his mom to get back into her bed. Then the nurse leaves them alone and Colbie shows her his card and reads it to her as he sits on the bed next to her. She grabs him and hugs him and kisses him all over his face.” Baby, I’m so sorry for how I treated you, your mom had some troubles that was trying to take control of my head. But the people here have been helping figure these things out and I’ll be going home real soon the doctor says.” Colbie smiles, and says” It’s okay, I knew it wasn’t you, that ole mean devil was messing with you and I asked Jesus to make him leave you alone and he will, too.” She kisses him again, and says “yes, Jesus will do it, too and He already has been working on that mean ole devil.” She kisses him again on his head. “You know, when you stopped smiling and laughing I just knew it, I knew that devil was messing with you.” Colbie said.

“Well let’s pray so that devil can just stay away from her right now. Colbie will you start to prayer off and then we will go around the room. “His grandmother says. “Me… you want me to say a prayer?” Colbie says.” Yes, I do. You’re big enough and she’s your mother.” Colbie feeling really good smiles and says. Okay, grannie let us bow our heads. Dear Lord Jesus, my name is Colbie, I’ve been talking to you a lot, you know about my mom. I ask you to be with her and help her to get better and for all of the other military people to get better too. I know that you have your hands full with everything doing on in the world, but just keep on helping her, so she can get her smile and laughter back I miss that and I miss my mom. I know there are other children who miss their moms and dads too. So, dear Lord Jesus, I promise I will be there to help her to get better too. I thank you Lord Jesus to allowing me to have a mom like her. In the name of Jesus Christ -Amen.” Colbie says. And everyone in the room takes their turn praying.

A week later Colbie’s’ mom comes home from the hospital and the house is decorated and there is food and desserts cooked up in the kitchen, balloon and family and friends waiting for her to walk in. Darnell went to pick her up and Colbie is waiting at the door with his friends and they are waiting to perform for her the song they did at the school talent show last year. She walks through the door and the music starts and both of Colbie’s uncles and his aunt are on the floor dancing and singing the song with him and his friends as she walks in. She is smiling and laughing again. Colbie thinks to himself “that is my mom; my mom is really back now she has her smile back and she’s laughing again.” The End