Yesterday, with the extrememly cold temps, I decided I needed to give Joe's jackets to charity for those who are really cold. Joe had a zillion jackets, one for every imaginable situation. As I took each one off its hanger, I checked the pockets (like I do when I do laundry). As I pulled out the contents of the pockets, I started crying hard. Each item represented some aspect of Joe. A handfull of clean tissues (because cold weather made his nose run), chewing gum, ticket stubs, a notepad, scraps of paper with someone's name and phone number, etc. Each item reminded me of Joe's LIFE and how active we both were together. The personal items are the hardest for me to handle. Anyway, I looked at each coat with pain and tears, remembering the many times he wore it and the fun times we had then. My heart says I CAN'T give up these jackets. We had several matching jackets (sports teams, etc.). But then I remembered Jesus saying that if we do something good for any one of our brothers, it is the same as our giving it to him. With lots of tears, I gathered the jackets and headed down to the donation site. Tonight, many people may be warm now and I know God thanks me. But the tears flowed. Everything I give up that was his is just one more sign that he will never be back. It is SO HARD to accept that!