Publisher's Synopsis
In the first section of AKA Jake Spelled Jaak, Chapter VI of When the Dogwood Blooms, the titular character, an ex-named Marine Martin Leibniz Savnik, who called himself Jaak, was interviewed when starting his new assignment as a chaplain's assistant contains this advice the chaplain gave the wayward marine:
"I want to tell you something, young man, you're still a very young man compared to me," continued the Colonel. "Life isn't easy, and life ain't fair. If you make it to my age, some day you will understand that. Though I seriously doubt that he could have cut it as a Marine, Mr. Jagger was right on when he said, 'You can't always get what you want.'"
"But in order to even have a chance of getting what you want, first you've got to know What you want, and then do your damnedness to get whatever it is, once you've figured that out. And you had better figure out what that is for you, before it's too late. If you can't get what you think you want, and have to give up on that, then you have to figure out something else you might want and do your best to get that. But you have to stay true to yourself, no matter what. You have to stay true to who you were meant to be, the person that, in your heart of hearts, you always wanted to be."
Despite how short-lived Martin's assignment as a chaplain's assistant was, this may have been one of the few times that the minister's grandson was happy, despite often saying he didn't believe in organized religion.. . .
