It has been three months since Marlene passed away, and while I have wanted to journal on what happened and what has happened since I have just not taken the time to do so. I know I will not forget the many memories together over the 30 years that we knew each other. We met in 1980 (at my parents house - she went to school with my sister), she was 16 and just finishing grade 10 and I was 21 working out of town. After dating for just over a year, I proposed to her when she was just 17 and still in school and in March 1983 we were married. In February of 1984 Chris was born, and at that point our lives would never be the same, changed for the better in 1983 when we got married and then changed for the best in 1984. In 1985 our lives would change again when we both accepted Christ as saviour and Lord.
We often wondered why we never had another child, could be that God felt that one was all we needed, and he has been all we have asked for.
Marlene, if you knew her, was one of the nicest, kindest, caring, loving (I could go on but you get the picture) people in the world (reminds me a lot of what my dad was like - same characteristics). I had hit the jackpot with her, which made it all the harder to lose her last year. I have said since that day, that you really don't know what you have until it is gone. You begin to realize all that person was not only to you but to people she worked with and met her and the impact she had on them even if she had only met them briefly. You wish for one more day with her, knowing full well that life does not work that way. You think of the things you would do, say, or the things you would change, but also aware you won't get that chance. It does make you think though, that with the relationships you have or will have in the future to do and say those things with others and not live with regret afterward.
If you are reading this blog and you are married, hug your spouse, love your spouse, tell them you love them. Change things up, don't let life get in a rut where you have dug in so deep that it is too late to get out of. Don't say hurtful things. Love and communication are the keys to a happy marriage. If you don't have them for your spouse, why are you married? I guess that is my pet peeve, not understanding how relationships go so sour where people almost despise the person they are married to, and yet still stay married, and are not willing to make things better. Life is too short, get over yourself. Bitterness never wins friends. I would have made a very poor pastor with counseling like that, but that is how I feel.
If you have kids, hug your kids, I don't care how old they are. Let them know you love them in what you say and in how you treat them. There is nothing more disappointing then seeing parents calling their kids names ...and then we wonder why some people turn out like they do.
To be continued.....
