Winding Down the Summer

Wow!  Summertime has come and gone in a flash!  But, then again, since May our lives have been in a haze.  As posted earlier on, in one week's time, we learned my sweet Daddy had colon cancer, was hospitalized for 5 days, went into Hospice care for 2 and died the next morning...so there were two trips to Mississippi, then on to north Alabama, a couple of weeks later I had arthroscopic knee surgery and a couple of three weeks to full recovery.  We celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary in July, and just last week Mrs. V's 94th birthday and my 59th birthday!  Now school has started, and no pictures to speak of for any of it...

Now, we're off at the end of the week on a new journey...details and pictures are to come!

Have a wonderful week, great Fall and football season to come, and lots of special times shared with family and friends.

It is rare when I have the opportunity to contribute to my Love’s blog.  I consider it an honor.

Melissa was, is, and will always be the most precious blessing in my life, other than my Lord and Savior.  She is my best friend, wife, and the precious Mother of our two wonderful sons.  She is the Secretary (I believe the politically correct title is Administrative Assistant) at the Timberlane Church of Christ, and has been for 27 years now.

Her most difficult job has been putting up with me for 39 years, of which 38 have been spent in marriage, as of the 20th of July.  She denies this, but I and anyone who knows me, knows it to be true.  In the words of my co-workers, “Melissa must be a saint.”  I can only agree; that is exactly what she is.

I thank God everyday for Melissa, and try to tell her that I love her at least once a day (usually 20 or 30).  Some may say that I obsess, but she means that much to my life, love, and spirit.

This day marks her birthday.  It is a precious and special day for me, because without her birth, I would indeed, be an unhappy man.  Her Dad recently passed away, and he will be missed terribly by his family and friends.  Tip was not an easy person to get to know, but once you got to know him, he was a friend for life.  His friends remember him as a wonderful man who expressed interest in their lives and he will be sorely missed.  It warms our hearts to know that he is once again with Olene, Melissa’s sweet Mother.

I will not post Melissa’s age here, although most of her friends know.   She has always looked far younger than her age.  Her inner beauty shines within and without.  I must have done something good somewhere along the line, because the Lord has blessed me with her companionship for all these years.   She has never failed to build me up and back everything that I have attempted through our married life.  That’s saying quite a bit, as I have done some crazy things.  Luckily for me, she has remained by my side through the bad as well as the good.  We both promised that to each other 38 years ago and we have managed to stay the course.

Melissa is her Mother to me in so many ways.  Her Mom was a wonderful, sweet, loving, passionate, and very kind woman.  Melissa has all these qualities and more.   She worries about everybody’s everything.  She wants everything to be right for everyone and thinks constantly about how to make someone’s situation better.  She will do for someone else before she gives a thought to herself, and she has always been a giver and seldom wants to take.  Her friends know this to be true.  In the past, she could seldom say “no” if anything was asked of her, but she has finally learned that she can’t do it all.

I am in awe of Melissa’s writing talent.  It shows itself continuously on her blog.  She writes with passion and as one reads her entries, her feelings and perceptions are truly felt.  I tell her constantly that she should write a book of memories or poems.  She has written wonderful poems in the past and her talent has truly grown over the years.  We all see it, but somehow she doesn’t, which amazes me even more.

I know that Melissa is not happy to have such (basically) wonderful things said about her.  She is somewhat self-conscious about hearing such things, but I have convinced her that her birthday is an important enough event to be placed on her own blog.  She would never do it herself, but I am very willing to post this because I love her dearly and feel the need to sound the trumpets for her loudly.

I Love you, Melissa

Your loving husband and best friend,

Carl

Time Flies...

There hasn't been a huge amount of things to really blog about since my last post, but the major event was our 38th anniversary on July 20th!  Can't believe it's been that long since our "I do's" were exchanged in Montgomery, Alabama, but then again, so many terrific and also heart-wrenching things have happened over these 38 years!  We've watch our two sons grow into strong, handsome men and welcomed a beautiful "daughter" into our family.  We've opened, then closed a business 10 years later, worked through various jobs, lived in several homes, but only two cities.  Tallahassee is now our home since we've been here 27.5 years.  We've lost Carl's father (1988), my mom (1996), and my dad (just this past May 2012).  Carl's mother has moved to Tallahassee and is actually celebrating her 94th birthday TODAY!  She lives in an Assisted Living facility, but is doing well and will be looking for our faces this afternoon to see what we have brought her for her birthday! :)

God is good and faithful and has seen us through the good and the bad, the ups and downs, and He still holds us tight when we think we can't go another step.  We are blessed with health, food, clothing & shelter; good friends, great church home, and loving extended family.

Blessings to you all....