A Note to Self: When the Mask Falls
A Note to Self: When the Mask Falls
Dear Self,
As a young girl, you watched the Vietnam War unfold on television—the protests against our soldiers, the Bob Hope specials trying to lift spirits, and the movies that tried to make sense of it all. You saw family members go off to serve, some coming back wounded in body and spirit, others never coming home at all. Movies like “Good Morning, Vietnam” taught you early that not everything is as it seems, that even in uniform, people can serve with honor or serve with deception, and that the real story often hides behind the heroic image we’re shown… you wanted to believe in the honor. You needed to believe that service and character were the same.
You weren’t prepared for a lesson to appear at your door. But here you are, and I need you to know—you’re going to be okay.
Right now, you’re standing in the wreckage, faced with the realization that what you thought was real was just a mask. The person you loved and trusted was performing. And the performance was so convincing that you could barely believe it yourself.
But listen to me: sometimes you’re placed exactly where you need to be—at the right moment to hear what you need to hear, see what you’ve been missing, or receive the message that unravels everything. Your instincts have been screaming that something isn’t right. You felt it in your gut.
And here’s what they never counted on: your relentless determination and the unshakeable knowing that you WILL find out. And you did find out. You trusted yourself enough to look.
Now comes the hard part—believing it. Accepting that the mask was always a mask. That person may never have really existed at all. The uniform, the service, and the public image of it guarantee private integrity. You know this now in a way you wish you didn’t have to.
The boy from Louisiana wore his uniform with pride. He served, they said. He had honor, they believed. But service and honor are not the same thing, and some people weaponize one to disguise the absence of the other.
This is a story about deceit dressed in duty. About a man who learned that control could be cloaked in care, that manipulation could masquerade as protection, and that the uniform he once wore gave him just enough credibility that people wouldn’t question what happened behind closed doors.
The mask has fallen!