Carlos R. Evans - Standing Together: The Inspirational Story of a Wounded Warrior and Enduring Love

This is a tremendous story of resilience and hope. Carlos and Rosemarie Evans tell a powerful personal account of overcoming trauma and tragedy. In so doing, they give hope to all who have experienced and are experiencing the wounds of war.

T IMOTHY J. D EMY , ThD, PhD, professor of military ethics, US Naval War College, and retired chaplain, US Navy

Carlos and Rosemarie will bring you to tearsand cheerswith their frank story of hardshipand victoryafter major trauma. Their vivid narrative of tough times, tough love, and Gods grace shows the way through both terrible circumstances and struggles of the soul. They dont give you a feel-good formula or how-to tale. They do share how they beat the odds against survival and recovery by leaning on God and all the good people in their lives. You dont have to love God or love marines to be enriched here, but you cannot read their story without coming to love Carlos and Rosemarie and being grateful for this time spent with them. Youll learn from them that with Christ all things are possible!

M ARK A. J UMPER , PhD, director of Chaplaincy and Military Affairs and assistant professor, Regent University School of Divinity

Standing Together: The Inspirational Story of a Wounded Warrior and Enduring Love

2019 Carlos R. Evans and Rosemarie Evans

Published by Kregel Publications, a division of Kregel Inc., 2450 Oak Industrial Dr. NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations in reviews.

Distribution of digital editions of this book in any format via the internet or any other means without the publishers written permission or by license agreement is a violation of copyright law and is subject to substantial fines and penalties. Thank you for supporting the authors rights by purchasing only authorized editions.

This work of creative nonfiction is told from the authors perspectives and recalled to the best of their memories.

This is one couples story. The path to recovery presented in this book is not intended as a guide to diagnose or treat medical or psychological problems. If medical, psychological, or other expert assistance is required, the reader should seek the services of a health-care provider or certified counselor.

All photographs have been provided by Carlos R. Evans and permission for use of photographs is the responsibility of the author.

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

ISBN978-0-8254-4497-5, print

ISBN 978-0-8254-7454-5, epub

Printed in the United States of America

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 / 5 4 3 2 1

For our beloved daughters,

Nairoby and Genesis

Now I have one hand,

and Im touching more people than when I had two.

I dont have feet,

but Im leaving more footprints than when I had two.

Carlos Evans

E ven though he couldnt call often, the phone call on Saturday, May 15, 2010, from Carlos was different from any of the others. Afterward, I couldnt stop crying.

He was on his fourth deployment, this time in Afghanistan. The previous three deployments had been in Iraq. Because of the time differencethey were nine and a half hours ahead of us in Fajardo, Puerto RicoI was never surprised when he called at strange hours. I was so glad to hear from him, I didnt care if it was the middle of the night. Each call meant he was safe, and I was relieved.

I had flown to Puerto Rico, and that Saturday I had gone out of town for my uncles wedding. Now, back at my mothers, I was putting both daughters to bed. My cell rang. Caller ID showed me it was a strange number, such as 1111111111, so I knew it was Carlos.

Hey, baby, how are you? I asked.

Im fine.

His voice sounded flat, unlike him. I was excited to hear from him, yet his tone upset me. Baby, are you okay?

Everything here is different than before.

That was an odd thing for him to say and nothing like the usual upbeat Carlos. After a pause, he said, You know I love you, dont you? You know that you and my daughters are the most important part of my life.

Yes, I said, and youre the most important person in my life.

Whats wrong? What isnt he telling me?

Everything is different here, but Im thinking about you all the time. Then he repeated, Youre the most important person in my life.

The phone went dead.

Why did he hang up? Whats happened to him? Why was he talking that way? Was he saying goodbye to me? Is he in the hospital? Has he been badly wounded?

My tears flowed. I couldnt call him back because I didnt know his number. All night long I couldnt stop crying. Id fall asleep for a few minutes and wake up sobbing. No, dear Lord, dont dont let him die.

All the next day I waited for my cell to ring, but no calls came from Carlos. I didnt cry as much, but I fretted. I couldnt focus clearly on things I had to do because I kept hearing that sad tone in his voice. Then I would cry out to God to take care of him. For a short time Id feel at peace, but minutes later Id worry about him again.

Before going out of town, I had made a number of things to mail to Carlos, such as a photo blanket collage and a photo dog tag with our wedding picture, and I put photographs of the girls and me in an album. Our anniversary was a month away, and I wanted him to have those things because he was away from us. Fathers Day was also in June, and I wanted it to be a special occasion for him and a reminder of how much we loved and missed him.

After the phone call, I didnt know if I should mail the package or not. Finally I pushed away my negative thoughts about Carlos. If he had been badly injured or worse, the Marine Corps would have notified me. No notification must mean he was all right.

I kept repeating those words to myself. Slowly I calmed down and was able to focus on making him happy. Once Carlos receives the package, I told myself several times, hell be reminded that we love him, and we didnt forget him while he was gone.

I thought of Carloss mother, Virginia Evans, who also lived in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. I had worked hard on the blanket and decided to show her everything I was going to send him. I drove to her house that day on my way to the post office.

Virginia smiled as she examined the contents. Oh, this is all so pretty. She picked up the blanket and the photographs one by one and assured me that her son would like everything.

After I expressed my concern over the telephone call, she hugged me and assured me that Carlos was fine and reminded me, Hes in Gods hands.

I know. Being with Virginia often eased my concern about Carloss safety.

I sealed the package and drove to the post office. Before I got there, my cell rang. It was a local number that I didnt recognize. Hello, I said.

Is your name Rosemarie Evans? a man asked.

Yes, its me.

He identified himself as being with the Marine Corps. After that I dont remember anything else until he added. Were in front of your mother-in-laws house. We need you to come back immediately.