I have lost my beloved. He passed away two days ago after a long, slow decline from multiple disease sources. We met when I was 20 and he was 30, we married a year later and have been together ever since. Like many couples, we have been through hell and happy times. He was the person I most trusted in the world. I knew he would be serious when I needed that and know he felt the same about me.
His love was bigger than both of us. His ability to love me and most everyone else, and especially his dogs, was a powerful and healing force. This morning I was thinking about how his human imperfections were less than his ability to love.
His daughter and I were talking this morning about him. Most people saw him as a cut-up, a joker, a man that wanted to bring smiles to your face and laughter to your day. But he was a loner, the most social loner either she and I have ever known. He worried about people, about work, about if I was happy, about his parents, about everything. His care for everyone was something he could not overcome, and so he worried. He wanted people to be okay, to be happy and safe. He was also intensely private and, as such, never discussed the health problems he was having. Most people would never have known until the last few years.
Ron and I met at a disco nightclub (it was the 70's) in Asheville, NC. A mutual friend of ours introduced us, and we basically fell head over heels in love. His first words to me, "I think I could fall in love with you." And we did.
We moved to Florida, we moved to Illinois, we moved to Florida, and then finally to the mountains of east Tennessee. But he loved the beaches of Florida and the peace that only the ocean can bring. He will return there in the end.
In the event you wish to make a donation, there are two local animal rescue organizations. In Mountain City, TN: http://www.rescuedogandendoflifesanctuary.org/donations.html and in Western North Carolina: Horse Helpers of the High Country: http://www.rescuedogandendoflifesanctuary.org/donations.html
Visitation and memorial service will be on Monday, November 7 at Mountain City Funeral Home, http://www.mountaincityfh.com/ , from 5 to 7 p.m.
93 comments
I am so sorry to read about your recent loss. I also lost my first husband and though I have since remarried I still think about him and at times mentally talk to him. Even though they may be physically gone they never really leave.
May God bless you and your family in the coming months.
Dear Miss Babs, I’m so sorry to hear about your loss. I send you and your familiy my sincerest condolences. All the best, Dagmar
Babs I am so sorry for your loss… the photos show a kind hearted man with a little twinkle in his eye! We miss our loved ones so much when they pass away… I have found ways to keep my loved one who died with me; I still talk to him when I take walks in nature, I light candles, sometimes I read a poem or special reading to him… oddly I still feel support from him like when I do something and think, “He would really like this”… I think that in different ways they are definitely still with us… that support and love is there and my hope is that its true, that they are there to meet us when its our turn to cross the threshold to the spiritual world…
Amanda
I am so sorry for your loss.
Oh dear lady I am so sorry to hear of your loss. My heart goes out to you. I am holding you in my heart and sending you love and much comfort. I am sincere in my wishes for comfort and peace for you and your daughter. I am sure his loving spirit will continue to surround you.Your work reflects the beauty of your soul and I am sure his love influenced that.I hope you find comfort in the creation of beautiful colors and find solace in the beauty of Nature that surrounds you. Much love, Nancy Shomo