Love Beyond Borders

Prologue:
He grew to know the ravages of war in its darkest simplicities, and had endured his heart being torn out more times than he cared to remember with each friend of his dying on the battlefield. Call it the grace of God, call it sheer luck, but somehow he had managed to make it through four long years that would forever change the history of the only country he had ever known. A war that should never have needed to happen, but did, all because some said black folks were less than equal to their white counterparts. The truth, though, is that there are some in this world that will never accept others in their differences, no matter what wars are fought, or how many people die in defense of truth, reason and the right to liberty. But he was one who forever altered the course of our family’s history, and now five generations had been added to that tree, and I was the last one added to it thus far in that latest generation, being born in the beginning of 1983. I remember growing up to stories of my great-great-great grandfather, as shared with me by my own grandfather, who always seemed to idealize the ‘civil-war hero’ that had Lincoln-level notoriety in our bloodline. You see, my name is Terence Harrison Witler, and the man our family so revered, Jordan Witler, was one my grandfather may have held in high esteem, but as I grew, I had come to despise him, and thus my grandfather too, but for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps it was the circle of influence I allowed myself to be immersed in, in the impressionable days of my youth, or perhaps it was the pervasive views that seemed to be ‘cultural norms’ of the small southern town I grew up in. But at the end of the day, we can’t blame everyone else ultimately for what we choose to maintain as our worldview. After a long journey of mental evolution, I have now come to also revere the man who so influenced my grandfather, among many others in our family tree. Furthermore, this is a man I hope to follow in the footsteps of, with hope that I can be as inspiring to others as he was and still is. Perhaps I can carry on his legacy and yet make my grandfather proud. I remember the whole story, told to me a bit at a time throughout my eighteen years, before my grandfather himself joined Jordan and all the family that bridge the gap between the two of them. This is my family’s story, but perhaps as I set down the record, it may be one others can relate to aswell.