Memories

Today our town was hit with a KING size snowstorm so no way was I going to escape the house.  Ah, what to do became my newest pain - I cooked a small pot of beef stew (to be eaten only by one person - what a bummer).  Took out some old photos and took a walk down memory lane - all the time wondering how all that happy time could end in one split second - but it did.  Jack and I were so very different and it took a while to overcome our differences, but when we did, it became happy days.  A large corporation advertised and we relocated from big city (Jack's bringing up) to a small town (my bringing up).  We had 4 wonderful children - 3 girls, 1 boy - and when our son, Tom, started school, mama went to work in the office of the local high school - I loved the kids and the atmosphere and for 25 years went joyously off to work each morning.  Jack became chief draftsman in the company in which he worked - and at five oclock each evening the 6 of us would sit at the dinner table and exchange stories about our day.  We had many friends from our church and our workplace and life became a euphoria - As each of the children went off to college, I became a bit more depressed and when the youngest one left, I really went downhill - it was so lonely but Jack stepped forward and helped me through it and our marriage became even stronger.  As our children married and we retired we were able to do some of the things we never had the time or money to do and now I began to feel that I knew what heaven was like Jack spoiled me in so many ways and I loved every minute of it.  Our favorite thing to do was to sell tickets at the high school football and basketball games and seeing all the folks in town - we had as much fun as all of them did.  Well, all of that is just a memory now - Jack had an unexpected heart attack and died after 6 days in intensive care while I was in a wheelchair recuperating from a broken hip.  I have no idea how to change my style of living without the one and only man I have ever wanted and I can't a thing about changing that - I am sad, lonely, devastated - I had my heaven and now I am experiencing hell.  Thank you all for listening to0 this epistle.  Agnes