Regret and Quality Time
As many of you know my beloved wife of 65 years passed away last January. She was not only my long time wife but we we also knew each other as kids and teenagers. So we knew each other a long, long time. It has been very difficult for me to give her up to God and live a life without her.
Then, my sister just younger than me passed away July 1st, her birthday. She and I were very close, as kids, teenagers and adults. She and my wife are about the same age and knew each other as kids. It was through my sister that I became aware of my wife as a kid because they were friends and she would come to our house to play with my sister. I'm three years older and didn't pay much attention to a kid. It was when she was 12 and I was 15 that I really began to pay attention to her. I hit her in the head with a newspaper.
I was a paperboy. We did a 3-corner fold on the papers so they had a certain aerodynamic characteristic much like a frisbee, though frisbees hadn't been invented yet. We pedaled down the middle of the street throwing our newspapers. We had to get them onto the porch, else go back and put them on the porch. I got pretty good with my accuracy to the point I was kind of cocky about it. I seldom had to go back and put one on the porch. I was pedaling down the middle of the street and saw my wife sitting on the porch of a friend playing 'jacks' with her. They were about four feet apart. I knew very well who they were. Cocky me, I thought I'll throw this paper right between the two and scare them. Not so. I hit my wife squarely in the side of her head. Of course I had to stop and come back because I didn't get the paper onto the porch. She was crying. She didn't want anything to do with me despite my apologies.
A few days later I asked her to the Saturday morning movies at the local neighborhood theater. Ten cents admission and a nickel for a big bag of popcorn and the Saturday morning western serials. She accepted. It all started then. A few months later I kissed her for the first time on May 24, 1943. I know the exact date because recently (since she passed away) I read it in her little diary she kept.
I worked for an oil company most of my adult career. The nature of my work was such I had to travel a lot at times. I'd be gone a few days, or weeks, or months, depending on the nature of the work to be done. My wife had her own business in North Dallas. When I retired I worked for her for the next ten years. We got to spend a lot of time together then.
She sold the business and we moved to South Central Texas in 1995. We did a lot of things together. We were both active in local Republican politics and I served 12 years as an election judge and my wife served as my clerk. Still my greatest regret is I did not spend as much time with my wife as I could have. I had a lot of other interests and I often neglected time with her to go 'dig a post hole' so to speak. I miss her immensely.
My wife and my sister were close friends most of their lives. My sister even married a local boy we all knew as a teenager. The four of us spent many times together before and after marriage. My wife and sister are buried in a family cemetery about 12 feet apart with room for her husband and me.
So, I say to you husbands out there. Spend more quality time with your wives. It is precious time you both will always cherish.
Then, my sister just younger than me passed away July 1st, her birthday. She and I were very close, as kids, teenagers and adults. She and my wife are about the same age and knew each other as kids. It was through my sister that I became aware of my wife as a kid because they were friends and she would come to our house to play with my sister. I'm three years older and didn't pay much attention to a kid. It was when she was 12 and I was 15 that I really began to pay attention to her. I hit her in the head with a newspaper.
I was a paperboy. We did a 3-corner fold on the papers so they had a certain aerodynamic characteristic much like a frisbee, though frisbees hadn't been invented yet. We pedaled down the middle of the street throwing our newspapers. We had to get them onto the porch, else go back and put them on the porch. I got pretty good with my accuracy to the point I was kind of cocky about it. I seldom had to go back and put one on the porch. I was pedaling down the middle of the street and saw my wife sitting on the porch of a friend playing 'jacks' with her. They were about four feet apart. I knew very well who they were. Cocky me, I thought I'll throw this paper right between the two and scare them. Not so. I hit my wife squarely in the side of her head. Of course I had to stop and come back because I didn't get the paper onto the porch. She was crying. She didn't want anything to do with me despite my apologies.
A few days later I asked her to the Saturday morning movies at the local neighborhood theater. Ten cents admission and a nickel for a big bag of popcorn and the Saturday morning western serials. She accepted. It all started then. A few months later I kissed her for the first time on May 24, 1943. I know the exact date because recently (since she passed away) I read it in her little diary she kept.
I worked for an oil company most of my adult career. The nature of my work was such I had to travel a lot at times. I'd be gone a few days, or weeks, or months, depending on the nature of the work to be done. My wife had her own business in North Dallas. When I retired I worked for her for the next ten years. We got to spend a lot of time together then.
She sold the business and we moved to South Central Texas in 1995. We did a lot of things together. We were both active in local Republican politics and I served 12 years as an election judge and my wife served as my clerk. Still my greatest regret is I did not spend as much time with my wife as I could have. I had a lot of other interests and I often neglected time with her to go 'dig a post hole' so to speak. I miss her immensely.
My wife and my sister were close friends most of their lives. My sister even married a local boy we all knew as a teenager. The four of us spent many times together before and after marriage. My wife and sister are buried in a family cemetery about 12 feet apart with room for her husband and me.
So, I say to you husbands out there. Spend more quality time with your wives. It is precious time you both will always cherish.
posted by Donald G Davidson at 11:47 AM
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