We celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, and I have a lot to
be thankful for—good friends, family and a lot of blessings. One of the best of those is my wife of 50
years, Judy. Yes, we celebrated our
Golden Anniversary in June and, while we are no longer the lovebirds we once
were, we have seen a lot of what I call marriage miracles.
My health problems started in 1980, and have continued for
over 32 years, but through all the trials and tribulations, the 911 calls and
hospital stays, the ups and downs that go with this malady, my wife has been my
constant companion, my nurse, my cajoler, and my inspiration. Without her I would have been on the brown
side of the grass years ago.
Judy and I were reminiscing on our long marriage the other
day, and I asked if she thought she might remarry if I were to die before
her. She was adamant in her response
that she wouldn’t think of it! I said
that I probably would remarry if only to have a housekeeper, a cook and a good
tax deduction all rolled up into one.
Well, of course that sparked some nasty comments and dirty
looks, but I thought I’d get off the hook by saying that it is highly unlikely
that I’m going to outlive her anyway given my 30-some-odd-years of coronary
disease. After all, her dad lived to age 95 and her mom is still alive well
into her 90s.
Her answer to that was priceless to me… She said, “No, I
doubt that I’ll outlive you. They just put new batteries in your pacemaker and
you keep on going. You’re my ‘Energizer
Bunny’”. Well, I can think of worse
epithets and nothing says love like a nickname.
I’ve got to tell that one to my doctor the next time I visit
him. I know he’ll get a kick out of it.
I trust that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, ate lots of
turkey, watched lots of football and had a good nap. I also hope you took time to reflect on all your blessings too.
