I can't believe this has happened to this wonderful man. I lost my beloved husband and best friend of 44 years on this past Dec 1. He was only 69. This is from the memorial I wrote for his service.
Charlie was in excellent health to everyone's knowledge. I had just had carotid artery surgery on Monday and Tuesday morn he raked and bagged some more leaves, drove me home from the hospital at 4:00, went to a meeting at 6:30, came back at 9:00. I went to sleep at 9:00 and got up at 2:00 to go to the bathroom, walked into the den and found him sitting in a comfortable position on the sofa, looking dead. The EMT arrived in minutes and said he was already gone. They said it was instantaneous. At least he did not suffer.
Our life together began 44 years ago. I walked into the Dept of Treasury for an interview as a programmer trainee. I walked past a long row of desks and in the next to last desk was this handsome man with a blond crew cut and the most marvelous green eyes I had ever seen. I said to myself, I hope that guy never makes a pass at me, �cuz if he does, I'm a gonner. Well he did and the rest is history.
He was my training officer. When I started it was a 1401 and Autocoder. When my first program appeared to be running correctly on my first try, unheard of before, he snuck up behind and hit the B register on the machine, basically causing the program to abend. He had a marvelous sense of humor and a very dry wit. He appeared gruff but really was a teddy bear once you knew him.
We both loved all the same things. We ate, drank and slept data processing. He loved to travel to Europe, the opera, the beach, cook, and the racetrack. He said he learned to read reading the Daily Racing form. We always spent a week at Saratoga in NY playing the ponies. We also loved zoos. On each trip to Europe, he would find a special zoo and surprise me when we got there.
In 1989, he retired from the state to learn the thoroughbred racing business from the ground up, starting as a hot walker and eventually getting his trainers license. He even bought a couple of horses along the way. It was up at 4:00 to muck stalls and feed and groom horses plus take care of the 6 barn cats he kept. He had a natural talent with animals.
He was the love of my life and I can't imagine what I will do without him. So many fond memories. We have all lost a very dear and wonderful man so let�s celebrate his life. That is what he would want.
So here I am 3 months later still putting one foot in front of the other and wondering what is going to happen next. My health is a little better but still suffering from shortness of breath. The first month and a half, there was still so much love filling the house, it almost felt like he was still there. His urn sits on the table in the den where he died and I watch TV along with my favorite picture of us. The horrible grief still has not set in but I think I'm still in denial waiting for the reality of all of this to set in. Just trying to find the paperwork I need to settle the estate, do the taxes, get the pension etc is a full time job and I still work a full time job. Plus everything in the house has managed to break. I laughed when Amy said she had a key ring with a zillion keys but couldn't find the ones for the house she needed. Well, the safe deposit key that has been in the same ashtray for 10 years have disappeared, the titles to the autos that are supposed to be in the safe aren't, and the list just goes on and on.
I apologize for being so long winded. Please do me a favor tonight and every night. Give your beloved spouse or loved one a special kiss because we never know when fate is going to suddenly take your loved one away from you.
Take care,
Eileen
