Hello, everyone!

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. I give thanks to the men and women who laid down their lives for the rest of us. It is a day of remembrance for all of us as a nation, but it is also my husband’s birthday.

I have not spoken about my husband as I do my children. So, I thought I would share a little about him today.

When I first met my husband, I was not interested in the least. We were total opposites of each other, and I tried my best to avoid him. My husband felt differently. Before the evening was over, he convinced me to go on a date with him to a Halloween party. Big mistake. He had a little too much to drink, and I let him sleep on my couch.

He never left. He took me to work the following day and picked me up afterward. We then went to pick up my son, and my son called him daddy. He introduced me to his son, and his son called me momma. That sealed the deal. We became a family, and instead of asking me to marry him, he took me to Reno and surprised me with “we are getting married.”

Because of how it started, I thought it would not last six months. Instead, it lasted fifty years, four and a half months. I do not know if I was in love with my husband when we married, but I learned to love and respect him.

We started with the two of us bringing a son into the marriage, and we had two more together. We raised four boys, my niece and our grandson. We are blessed to have fifteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

I will not tell you everything was a bed of roses because it was not. We had our share of disagreements, but we learned to listen to each other and find ways to compromise. My husband was not a demonstrative man, but he was always there when needed.

The first time he was diagnosed with Cancer, the doctors gave him six months, if he was lucky, maybe a year. My husband told the doctors, “Until God himself says my time is up, I don’t accept your diagnosis.” I believe because of the declaration; God gave him another eleven years. When the Cancer returned, we knew there would be no more reprieve.

The doctor wanted my husband to go to hospice care, but he insisted o going home. They provided what was needed to make things a little easy on him and me. Our children, grandchildren, their children, family, and friends all came to see him.

My husband was the kind of man you could not help but like once you met him. He made friends for life. He was full of energy, and he loved sports, especially Basketball and Football.

He was a big man, six foot four inches, and he weight 225. He looked like he had worked out in a gym to get his body. I found out he had played football, and he worked in the cotton fields in Louisiana before he came to California.

Robert was a hard worker. He always took care of his family, loyal to his friends. One of his favorite things to do with his two best friends happened to be to play whist. Whichever of the two he partnered up with, they would almost always win, and they would play for hours.

I could share so much more, but you will have to wait until another time. You need to know that I started out thinking he was not for me, but he became the best decision I could have made.

I lost him almost two years ago to Cancer, but he left behind an incredible legacy. There are times I feel his presence as if he was still watching over me. I am happy he is in a better place where he is no longer experiencing pain. I am grateful for our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

I have beautiful memories of our times together. Happy birthday, Robert! We miss you, and we love you! If I had it to do over, I would still choose you. It is a happy story for me.

I hope you enjoyed learning about the man I learned to love and married. I know he is smiling at me now and shaking his head at me for writing about him.

Until next time, everyone, stay safe and keep the faith.