Hi
Folks! February is a fun month when you
think about it. The little kids are
getting valentines ready for friends and classmates; there are numerous
parties; the bakery is all decorated with decorated cakes, cookies; the card
section has cards for every thought or feeling; and we, who are more mature,
spend time with our memories of our mates, etc. I subscribe to
“Reminisce” and “Good Old Days,” both magazines that are full with nostalgia,
which has always been among my favorite things to read.
I
met my late wife in church. She was a sweetheart, unique in her own way. She
thought I was a stuck-up snob and wanted no part of me . . . but we ended up
eloping and were married just two weeks shy of our twenty eighth anniversary
when she died of cancer.
I
was searching for mobile homes that I might live in and a friend told me of one
in a senior park that was for sale. I looked at it, and bought it.
He told me that I should be careful because there were many widow women in
these parks looking to latch on to a man.
I said I wasn't looking. A
month after I moved in. I went to my
mailbox and inside was a package with two homegrown tomatoes and a note saying
to “enjoy.” It had a signature, so the next morning as I was on my way to work,
she was outside in the flowers and I stopped to say thank you. She asked if I
would join her for dinner after work, and maybe play the organ for her. I did, and we hit it off immediately.
She won't marry me because of the twenty-two year age difference, but you know,
I find age makes no difference if you love someone and get along so well.
We have been the best of friends and companions for eight years. I have
seen her through many illnesses and as I care for her,(She has no family), I
find I love her more and more each day. Now, you wouldn't think a tomato
would have that sort of effect on someone, would you? But, it did in this
case. Each year on July 15th, I grace her place setting at the table with
two tomatoes. No, I don't grow them, they would never grow if it were up
to me.
I
say this all to say, if you have someone you love, and you want to spend the
REST of your life with them, or you are already married . . . you need to know
that you and yours are NOT Perfect, and what you saw at the first meeting is
usually the real person. Don't put on fronts to get someone. That never
works. You can't live a lie and have a successful relationship. Don't always be correcting everything said
and done, or you become the person in the wrong role of a relationship. Don't
be bossy. You, ladies, have no right to
be that in a relationship. You are a helpmate. You, men, on the other hand,
have no right to be using your partner as a slave. Women are individuals also,
with deep feelings, and if you love them honestly, you will get to know the
signs when they really need you in an emotional trauma.
Love
is one of the most beautiful things I know, created by God to be beautiful.
There wouldn't be so many divorces today if we took our vows seriously, went to
church together, quit living separate lives so that we never do anything
together.
I
believe IT IS possible to experience a honeymoon throughout an entire
relationship so that when it is time to move on to the next world, we can leave
a legacy behind that will speak to those who remain.
There
are many things I could say, but there isn't time now.
