John 3:16 – Be thankful, grateful, patient, charitable, kind, and smile, as it is infectious. God Bless America; protect our president and the military!
This may seem odd to some of you, but I would like to relive the period from June 1975 to the end of August 1976. It was a time when all still seemed right in the world.
My wife and I got engaged that summer on her 19th birthday and were married a short time later. It would the last time we would both not only still live at home for a short. Unbeknownst to me at the time is would also be the last Labor Day, Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years holiday I would get to spend with my dad.
We got married, and Nancy and I found out we were having our first child later that year, and that her sister would be getting married. I come from a large family. So, on top of that, there were the usual parties and fanfare that go with the nature of things, like picking out engagement and wedding rings, graduations, christenings, weddings, and births, mixed in with finding an apartment and furnishing it. Planning of our big day and life together.
I think about this time often, and as I type this, we are just a short time away from some pretty big, life-changing events that would happen before the end of August of 1976.
My father would die of a massive heart attack on Thursday, August 12, with his wake on the 15th at Donohue Funeral Parlor. His burial Mass was at St. Andrew’s, and his interment was at what my Aunt Jean always referred to as Saints Peter and Paul’s cemetery, “Two Guys!” The next day, a day my daughter would breathe new life into all of us mourning the passing of Dad! My father was my best friend and mentor.
I try not to fuss too much, reminding myself it could be worse, as my wife, Nancy, lost her mother to cancer the day after New Year’s in 1970. She was in 8th grade at the time. To me, that was much rougher on anyone’s family nucleus. Thank God we both come from very like mined strong supporting families.
We just passed our 50th anniversary, the 50th anniversary of his passing, as well as our daughter Marie’s 50th birthday, who was born at 3:30 A.M. at Riddle Hospital the day he was buried 8/16/76.
Point to Ponder: The moral of this story is to cherish the time you get to spend together with your loved ones, as you never know when the last birthday, party, holiday, or family event will be. Life is too short. My only advice is to make the best of the time you have, and more importantly, if for some reason you need to make amends with loved ones over something stupidly said or done, there’s no time like the present.
What year would you like to relive and why?
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