MY TRIBUTE TO RHONDA,

MY DARLING WIFE

1950-2007

Your Time, Our Time

The first day we met was your nineteenth birthday.  It wasn’t love at first sight, but there was a spark of recognition as though our spirits had met before.  Of all the infinite variety of the world’s consequences that occurred to make that magic moment possible, we were very fortunate in the timing.  We were in the waning days of our adolescence and on the verge of sacrificing our educational opportunities and future happiness. We rescued each other by the joining of ourselves together to create one whole entity to face the world, and what a wonderful world it was with you. 

Our time is not a sad story, but it was a journey of 38 years that had many twists and turns. We learned to negotiate this path with each other’s help. Yet I was always amazed that you loved me, because the frog seldom marries the beautiful princess. From the realization that college was not all that much of a challenge if we applied ourselves, to the creation of a son that represents the best of us both, we managed to launch our little family.  Every day, every hour, we kept learning more about what is really important and growing closer as friends and lovers. And we never stopped learning.

Yet our time was not all about the happy times, although we had more than our share. We came to realize that facing the realities of hardship, sickness and death was all a part of living in this world.  And we became closer to each other as we faced them. I know that you sometimes felt that your own medical problems were dragging me down.  I feel secure that you were aware that you caused me no grief in that regard because we communicated so well with each other and were such best friends.

In the end, your time ran out this time before mine. I miss your smiling face, for you always wore that honest smile. I miss your companionship, but most of all I am forever grateful that we had those 38 years to enjoy together.  I have this certain feeling that our spirits will meet again, as we have before. But for now, Kate and Gwen are our living legacies and I will continue our work to see that they understand and appreciate that heritage.

Until our next time around,

Your loving soul mate…