The Smoke of You
A Memoir of Love During & After Deployment
After years of flirting in the baseball dugout of their small South Dakota town, denying to friends and family anything beyond a friendship, Amber—now home from her college study abroad in Mexico—and Blake—newly committed to military service—reunite, and finally confess their true feelings for one another. Later, their love and marriage are tested by Blake’s deployment to Iraq during Amber’s first pregnancy, and by the changes in Blake after his return and reintegration, his subsequent battle with chronic pain, and the slow-burning challenges of married life.
Through it all, Amber and Blake draw on their deep commitment to each other and to the legacy of family in a discovery of what to let go of and what to hold on to. Clinging to memories of baseball and hunting, family traditions, and to each other, Amber and Blake learn to discard expectations and Midwestern reticence, and to find comfort in silence while also asking the difficult questions they hope will keep their love alive.
“In a lush and lyrical voice, Jensen narrates the birth of her family amid the backdrop of her husband’s deployment to Iraq. When he returns, we learn that even clear discernment can be complicated by war, family ghosts, and the stitching together of lives. Set in South Dakota, Jensen resists the easy reading of rural America that so many rush to give, extending this love story to a place and its people … The Smoke of You shows us how to navigate the roads we expect, the detours we don’t, and where to seek shelter along the way.”
“Told with searing honesty, clear-eyed perception, and empathy … a brave unlayering of what it means to love someone who carries both physical and emotional pain. The Smoke of You explores the heavy weight of worry that all spouses to veterans quietly bear, and it asks hard questions about how our nation cares for our veterans. This is necessary reading. It helps us to understand the long shadow of war, and the cost that is still being paid by many.”
Red, White, and True
Stories from Veterans and Families, WWII to Present
edited by Tracy Crow
Amber Jensen’s essay “Memory Sky” appears in this collection of stories, edited by Tracy Crow, which “illustrate[s] the inescapable damage that war rends in the fabric of society and celebrate[s] our dauntless attempts to repair these holes with compassion and courage.”
“The diversity of perspectives collected in this volume validates the experiences of our veterans and their families, describing their shared struggles and triumphs while honoring the fact that each person’s military experience is different.”