Oh my, it has been so long since I've been to this blog. A LOT has happened in my life since 2010.
The new great-grandchild I blogged about in my last blog post arrived on June 16, 2011 and we certainly do love our Jaycie Paige! My grandson and their mother got divorced in 2012, but he married a wonderful woman, Stephannie, in July 2016 and now they have another son--and another great-grandchild for me-- Sawyer Wayne.
Hayley got married in 2015, graduated from the University of Arkansas in Dec 2016, and she and her husband Steven moved to Florida in 2017. Tristan graduated in 2013, went to California to visit and came back with a girlfriend named Erica and her 4 children, Joey, Emily, Angelina, and Gabriel (more great-grands for me!). JD and Bradley are seniors in high school now. Steven is living the bachelor life but has a great girlfriend who has two precious daughters. My son and his wife are divorced and she took their kids to live in Missouri--and doesn't want us to see them. The girlfriend who had the twin girls married another man and I haven't been able to see them since 2009. Not being able to see my grandchildren has been very difficult for me, but I trust God to bless them and keep them.
My dear husband of 43 years passed away on April 13, 2012 from kidney cancer-- he had a cancerous tumor in his left kidney in 2001 and that kidney was removed and he didn't even have to have chemo, so we were very surprised when it came back in his right kidney a little more than 10 years later (Dec 2011 was when it was found).
I was so very sad and missed him so much I wasn't sure I could even live without him. It was very hard and I spent a lot of time asking God HOW could I go on with my life without him -- we'd been together since I was 16, engaged six months after we began dating, and married when I was 17. I turned 60 years old in May after he passed away, and it was just.too.much.
But then, two years later, I finally came out of mourning and began to wonder if God had more for me. My kids and my grandchildren took up much of my time, but I missed the companionship of having a husband... going places as a couple, watching tv or reading together in the evenings. So I prayed. I prayed and asked God that IF he wanted me to have a husband, would he please send someone to me because I didn't know how to go about it on my own. I confessed to God that maybe he wouldn't think I was a good enough wife the first time and maybe I didn't deserve another husband. Dan had been so good to me and I was thoroughly spoiled...perhaps another man wouldn't even like me! But I had learned to trust God's will and I sincerely asked HIM for HIS will in my life, whether I got another husband or not.
I joined a senior center and began to meet new people. After a false start with a man who turned out not to be the right person, God sent my new husband in the form of a blind date. A Christian man who had lost his dear wife a few months before we met, and he was also praying to find a companion. (Life is so lonely to those of us who are accustomed to having a mate to work out problems with and just general discussions about life.) After the first false start, I began to wonder if perhaps God thought I didn't need to be married again, but my sister had worked with this man for many years, and after several times trying to persuade me to go out with him, I acquiesced. I told her I wanted to see the movie "Left Behind" with Nicholas Cage that was going to be playing in theaters on October 4, 2014, and if he wanted to take me to see it, I would go with him [if it didn't work out, at least I would have gotten to see the movie. :) ] But, I was shy, so I asked if she and her husband would go with us on a double date, and she agreed.
So, on October 4, 2014, as I waited at my house for him to arrive to pick me up, busily tapping on the laptop in my living room, I glanced up and there was a man standing in the foyer by my living room, leaning against the doorpost, watching me as I typed. Dan's sister, whose daughter lived next door to me, had been sitting on my porch, knitting, when he drove up. She knew I was expecting him so she opened my door and let him in! What a sneaky sister-in-law.... I love her so much. :) My sister and her husband had been over there visiting.
My sister, her husband, and this new man and I went to the movies in one car. We hit it off pretty quickly -- we laughed at the same things in the movie, and actually had things to say to each other. When we got home and the four of us were standing in the driveway visiting, he opened his arms wide and invited me to come get a hug goodnight. It felt good!
We called, texted each other, and saw each other as much as his work schedule would let us. Finally, on November 4, 2014, after dating for exactly one month, he asked me to marry him. I said yes. He wanted to elope right away, but I wanted to get a new dress! A girl has to have a dress to get married! On November 7, we applied for and got a marriage license, but I still hadn't found the right dress. I finally decided to just make the dress myself, and we set a date for a small wedding with our families on December 20, 2014.
We've been married for 3 years, 9 months, and 18 days--and I have not regretted it even one time. We're not rich, but we love each other and we are blessed to have enough. I know my Dan and his Crystal are up in heaven, looking down with love for us and are happy for us.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment