A Tribute To My Beautiful Wife

I never know what might happen to give me the idea for my next BLOG. Well this weekend gave me my thought for this BLOG. Joan left on Friday for Clearwater Beach to spend the weekend with her Dear and long time friend Edna. No matter how much I tell myself to never take any thing for granted I realize that some times I do just that, I know at times I probably do take Joan for granted. Being alone for a couple of days and having quiet time to think made me realize the million or so reasons why I should never do that.

My wife of 39 years Louise ( Bubba ) Jackson passed away in March 9 of 1998. I was not handling her death very well. You never get over losing the people you love but I think the first year is probably the worst, all the firsts you go through alone, the first holidays, the first birthdays, etc. Thansgiving was a tough day, but December of that year was especially hard. Early in December I went to the cemetary to talk to Bubba, I said Dear I have been praying for some relief from the pain of your loss and nothing seems to be working. I said I know God is very busy but if you get a chance to talk to him would you ask him if there is any way he could do some thing for this lost soul on earth. Martha, Jimmy, & Jessica were living with me and none of us even had enough Christmas spirit to ever decorate, it was not a plesant Christmas.

A few days after Christmas I went to the mail box and there was a Christmas card a few days late. I opened it and it was from Joan. Bubba and Joan had been friends for years, they bowled together for a long time. I had met Joan through Bubba but didn't really know her. I did remember she came to the the viewing to pay her respects. My reaction was WOW, she was Bubba's friend, Bubba is gone and she didn't cross me off her card list. I thought about it all weekend how nice a gesture that was. On Monday I got Bubba's address book out and looked and Joan's phone number was in there. I said I just have to call her and thank her for the card. We ended up talking for an hour. I knew she had lost her husband, they were teen age sweet hearts just like Bubba and I. As I was hanging up I said you probably have not told me any thing I haven't heard from other people but its like I was hearing it for the first time as I knew she had been through the loss of a spouse just like I had. I asked her if I could call her again and she said I could, I waited a couple of weeks and called her again, another hour just flew by again. I said I have a friend in the hospital in West Palm Beach, I am coming over to visit her this weekend could we continue this conversation over dinner and thank God she said yes, little did I know that was to be the start of a beautiful relationship.

We started dating a short time later and as they say the rest is history. Right away I noticed what a great Mom she was to her daughter's, a great Nana to her grand son Christopher. A wonderful and caring friend to so many. She was friends with people of all age groups, small children to senior citizens. I saw the great relationship she had with Amy, a widow in her eighties, Amy's family all lived out of the area and Joan was like a daughter to her, it was beautiful to see.

When I first started thinking of doing a BLOG I was given advice telling me you need to keep them short, can't be done when you are telling a story. LOL

I really could go on and on about Joan but I will close by saying what a great lady she is. She has had a lot of tragedy in her life, her husband passing away young and leaving her with two teenage daughters, who she did a great job of raising , losing her oldest daughter Janet in a automobile accident on Christmas Eve 2002. Joan never puts herself first, every body else, including me first, family , friends, every one first before her self.

A great thing about a BLOG is gives me the chance to tell the world how much I Love and Respect her.