Lest I Forget

Yes, I am already worried. Worried that I will forget my beloved's voice, the way he sang In the Garden in his deep, rumbly voice and often while driving. The way he chuckled, the way he laughed, the squeaky little laugh done just to amuse me.

So I am jotting down a few things to help me remember. 

John never left the house without kissing me goodbye and sometimes more than once, especially when we would start chatting all over again with his hand on the handle attempting to get out the door. Then I'd get another kiss because he couldn't remember if he had kissed me the first time. I never told him otherwise. As he was leaving, he'd say, "I'll be back." Sometimes I'd say, "Thanks for the warning!" Then we'd both laugh at the lame joke.  
He never arrived home without an "I'm back" and most often another kiss or a hug depending on how dirty he was. Oh that man could get more dirt on him than a mechanic in a pit. Sometimes I'd grumble about it and he would respond, "Now is that a very nice thing to say to a very nice guy like me?" 

When he finished a project he'd say, "There! Good enough for who it's for." I tried to get him to say it Here, but he just wouldn't cooperate that day. ☺ (Look for the video and the little bow John took.)

If I asked him how his meal was, he would usually say, "I don't know yet." There was never a time that he did not thank me for making his meals or changing his sheets or taking care of his clothes.

If I ever asked him to do anything, he was in agreement. Sometimes we had to set a date and an intention, but he was willing to go and do as I requested. Sometimes I had some unusual requests that "stretched his thinking all out of whack."

Evenings were usually spent companionably watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. (I haven't watched since May 20.) He trounced me night after night only requesting my help for literature and grammar questions. ☺ For the final Jeopardy question, we would decide if we were going to "bet the farm." We often won. It is true that two heads are better than one.  After that, he usually wished to watch some show about Alaska; I'll never watch that again either.

~typical grand greeting~ 

When seeing the grandsons, he'd ask, "How's my buddy?!" They always knew that they were his buds, too. This often involved a high-five and sometimes he requested a hug and they willingly gave him one. He sure loved them and I can see the love light in his eyes for them that I often saw for myself. Here's a good example.

He prayed for the boys every day. But then, he prayed for many every single day — his girls, his grands, his greats, his sisters, his friends, my friends, my family, me, and on and on. He really enjoyed praying for people and was happy to have remembered to pray and for what the specific need or concern was.

He had plans to write a book of his favorite tips for contracting/carpentering. He had even sketched out the chapters. He wanted to put in a new driveway, new counter tops in the kitchen, new floors, and probably a few other things; alas, time ran out. My son said the other day that John needed at least another twenty years.

Whenever situations arose that would make me say, "This is something we must pray about," he would say, "Oh dear, it's come to this." That was a joke indicating that it was ridiculous not to think about praying first about anything and everything. 

taken in April 2016, at a Retirement Party for a Dear Friend
You may remember a similar expression worn  Here

Oh there must be more; I can't have forgotten already. Wait! I remember another...one of my favorites. Every now and then I'd catch him looking at me and so I'd smile and he would say, "You're kinda cute (pause for emphasis) for a girl." 
This would have been our 8th anniversary...new beginnings. John began his ultimate new beginnings just six weeks ago. His sister gently chided me recently that there is no marriage in Heaven. Right. I know that. It won't matter there. But here, just for today, Happy Anniversary, Honey. I miss you like crazy.

Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like...

~Edna St. Vincent Millay *** And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Revelation 21:4