"I really want to get off of meds. I got back from Afghanistan and nothing fits. My wife no longer understands me. I came here to the VA to get help with my issues she doesn't understand, and they put me on more meds. I really love coming here to the Plunge. I can work out upstairs, in the water and then relax in the health club. I come here everyday. I want to get off of my meds and use the natural things to help my nerves and nightmares."
He talked rapidly, barely pausing for a breath or a response from me. Finally he paused and looked over at me, as if waiting for a reaction to his litany.
"Have your tried acupuncture or yoga?" I asked him. "Both of those services are offered here in town."
"I want to try both of those. I want to try every thing the natural way and get off of all those medications."
With those words he bounced off of the bench and disappeared out the door. His friend from the domiciliary was sitting across the sauna. He now had his chance to talk and he told me that he had come for treatment from Denver.
"I really love this VA and this town. I want to move here some day and make this my home", he told me. "It is easier to manage my issues in this peaceful community."
Two other veterans from the Dom came into the sauna. All four of them came to the Plunge every day. They were all delighted with the amenities that our Plunge had to offer. They loved to let off steam with exercise, water, hot tubs and the steam. All four wanted to try natural means for healing instead of the artificial drugs which offered temporary relief and maybe, just maybe, added addictions.
All four were struggling to find their way back to society, back to their families, back to work. For now they felt safe within the VA system, but they also knew it was a temporary haven and they all echoed that they wanted to find their way back to "normal", whatever that was. So much had changed for them during their years in the service. They were different somehow and civilian life seemed confusing and unwelcoming.
"We used alcohol and drugs to soothe our anxieties. We just added another problem to our emotional ones. Now we have to deal with both."
I was happy that they found some part of "normal" while making use of the Plunge. I watched them join in with other townspeople in water volleyball and basketball. Looking on I would never have guessed that they were struggling with PTSD and substance abuse issues.
I doubt is any of us have reached perfect "normal" during our lifetimes. Perhaps it is best that we haven't. We all have our dark sides to battle at times. For me it helps in understanding those four veterans desperate to find some normalcy. I know of no one who has attained perfection. And, I believe that is what makes all of us interesting. Flaws weave a pattern of richness into a tapestry of humanness. I wish, with all my being, that in some small way these veterans find some peace in their present lengthy conflict, a struggle that is possibly more difficult than the battle they fought overseas.
When I left the Health Club at the Plunge all four veterans were soaking, laughing and talking in the hot tub. They all looked relaxed and like the usual tourists. "What a nice old lady", one of them said as I waved goodbye.
Welcome home, guys.
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