My Favorite Vet

Maria Lee met her husband.
On a bus in South Korea
It was love at first sight.

“Ishimchoshim
Spars flew from heart to heart.”
As Koreans say.

They got married
Two months later.

When she immigrated
A few years later
She joined the US Army
Eventually becoming an officer.

Becoming the first Korean-born
Female officer to be stationed in Korea.

She was a pioneer one of the first.
Asian females in a still mostly white male
American-born upper-class officer corps.

She often was
the only Asian-born person
In the room.

She felt daily discrimination.
And that she was not accepted
But she stuck with it.

Retired after twenty years.
Of service in the U.S., and Korea.

After her retirement
She traveled the world.
With her Foreign Service husband.

Managed her husband’s career.
And their investments
Including rental properties.

When he retired
They were together 24/7.

And she felt at peace.
Happy together as they were still.
Madly in love.
Falling in love again and again.