At exactly 8:30 a.m. every day the phone rings. The call has been triggered by a signal sent from his heart. Following his heart-valve replacement surgery, this heart message is his daily reminder to put the cuff on his arm and install the finger clip. Then it is time for his morning walk. His steps […]
Letter: “Life Slipped Through Their Fingers Unlived”
For as long as I can remember I have cherished the hours of the early morning. Whether it was in my unheated office down by the lake where I cradled a cup of coffee in my hands to warm up my fingers before returning them to the keyboard while awaiting the first winter fisherman of […]
Letter: A Gift in Grief
On this day, December 15, 2015, a story out of Boston, Massachusetts, told of a woman who, in memory of her late husband, slipped her diamond engagement band and wedding ring off her finger and slid them into the narrow slot of the little red bucket next to the bellringer for the Salvation Army. To […]
Letter: Contented
Of the many Nativities my wife collected with which my daughter has wonderfully decorated our home for Christmas, only two place the infant in his mother’s arms. Sure, the cradle, the hay, I get it. At some point the new mom needs her rest. But when artisans design these things, they have a wonderful opportunity […]
Letter: Put On Hold
She was definitely a multi-tasker. My wife and I were sitting at her cubicle awaiting our appointment, and the multiple-lit blinking phone was indicating others were waiting as well. “Excuse me,” she said as we were seated, whereupon she picked up the phone, punched a button, apologized to the person on the other end of […]
Letter: It Was Perfect
This year was the first time our family’s traditional search for The Perfect Christmas Tree was held without her. I lost my wife to cancer on the first day of spring. For fifty years, The Perfect Christmas Tree my wife selected was – always – in the very farthest reaches of the acres and acres […]
Letter: Looking Back the Way We Came
I love to wander but I am not lost. I love to wonder but I already know the answer. I wonder about life and its purpose. There’s something about loving the one who has been for so long so precious, and then losing her, that forces us – me anyway – to contemplate what difference […]
Letter: Even If
“She’ll never graduate from high school. Never get married. There will be no more birthdays or Christmases. She died.” I was doorbelling for my campaign for the school board and the fellow uttering these words was angry for soon as I mentioned “school” that was his trigger. He had lost his young daughter. He was […]
Letter: Her Final Gift
She was arrested for speeding in the fabric store. Ok, to be honest, she really wasn’t arrested for speeding in the fabric store. Just pulled over and warned. Ok, that’s not true either. Here’s what happened. It was approaching Christmas a year ago and my wife of 50 years wanted to crochet a blanket for […]