good morning all! i don't have much time right now, just came online to check mail and LB and my aquarium forum. i would LOVE to tell you how gary and i met so i have copy/pasted what i posted in my other forum, the only other place i go where everybody knows our situation so, here goes...
gary and 2 of his brothers had their own vinyl siding business. when i was married, we hired them to put siding on our house. that would have been, ohhh, 30+ years ago. in the early 80's, gary moved his business to south carolina. he would occasionally come back to visit nana.
i used to run into his brother, rod, often. he lived in the same town as i did. i would always ask him how gary was doing. he would tell me he was fine and say it was strange that i would ask because when gary called home, he often asked rod how *I* was doing and did he ever see me.
when my husband and i split up, i moved to the city 20 miles away. i went to an auction every friday night and bought stuff to furnish my new apartment. at one of these auctions, i spotted this guy who looked very familiar. i made it a point to bump into him before the night was over. you gotta know the meffords, they are all huggers. i got a big bear hug and an invitation for a cup of coffee.
turns out, gary was just home visiting nana and was leaving to go back to south carolina in a few days. that one cup of coffee turned into two cups of coffee and then three and we fell head over heels in love. after about 3 weeks, he told me he couldn't stand the thought of leaving and he decided to stay. i think it was about 2 days later when he moved his tool belt into my apartment and we have been joined at the hip ever since.
eleven wonderful years, we have not exchanged so much as a single cross word, not a day goes by that we don't say "i love you". even now, when he is barely conscious, i tell him and he says it back. most times, it's just a weak whisper but i hear it and that's all that matters.
until recently, i would look around our farm and i would get so sad when i saw all of the projects we worked on together...the big flower garden, the patio with the fire ring we so enjoyed, the bird feeding stations we worked so hard on together, the hot tub on the deck that i can't see myself ever using again, my collection of breyer horses that sits on the shelves that gary made for me because HE kept bringing those darn things home and we just plain ran out of room to display them, the cabinet that he built out of old barn siding that houses many of our collectibles, the hitching post gary built for tuffy the very first summer we lived there. i could list a million things and every single one of them is unique and precious to me. and, every single one of them is inscribed in some way with the date it was made and the words "gary loves nina" (my nickname). but now, i look at all of that and i am SO glad i have it because every square inch is a blessed memory for me.
that's the story of how we met and where we are now. must run, i have simply been sitting next to gary's bed and holding his hand while he sleeps. he is comfortable and that is all that matters to us now.
thank you all again for your kind thoughts. if i haven't said it before, i will say it now...much of my strength comes from gary's mother. i simply could not get through this without her.
i do hope, some day, to be able to share some of those videos with you!!
love and hugs to you all! charlene
