The Bridge

I have been very blessed in my life to have been given wonderful parents.  They have taught me many valuable lessons…lessons that have helped me to become the person I am today.  Lessons like working hard to accomplish a goal, unconditional love, forgiveness, the importance of family, respect, having strong morals, and how to work through hard times together.  These lessons were not always taught by words, but by their actions…actions of good and decent people…people that God entrusted to take care of me on this earth.

My sisters and I spent the last several weeks by my dad’s side as his health was declining. He had gone back and forth several times from the hospital to the nursing home.  He ended up in the hospital for the last time on Monday.  He kept telling us “I quit, I’m tired of this game”.  We knew his time here on earth was nearly complete.

My dad crossed “the bridge” yesterday and joined my mom in heaven. The day before he died he said many things as his life passed before him, some good and some painful.  He repeated over and over “I love all my girls”.  He sang to my mom…My Sweet Irish Rose and said quite clearly that the first and last time he walked side by side with Bea was down the aisle.  My sisters and I knew what this meant, as he often told us that during their life together she always walked 10 steps ahead of him.  He spoke of his mother, who passed when he was a young boy, and kept repeating “Red Rover, Red Rover come on over”. Could it be his mother wanted him to cross the bridge and he wasnt quite ready to say good-bye?  Just before he took his last breath, he said “bridge…bridge…bridge”. He finally took that step into heaven.

With heavy hearts we said good-bye, but we know that he is finally at peace and does not have to “play the game” any longer.  He leaves behind, not only me and my two sisters, but MANY people who loved him.  That became quite evident by the kind words people have said about him to me since his passing.

Thank you daddy…for loving me…caring for me…and teaching me.  I hope that I made you proud!

And as I told mommy when she crossed the bridge…it’s not good-bye…it’s “see you later!”

Pillow Talk

There are many things that married couples do to keep their marriages from becoming boring. Let's face it, you see each other every day at your worst, and we all know that sometimes we just become invisible to our partner. It helps if we can keep a little humor in the mix!

My honey and I find our humor with "pillow talk". Now before you get all "TMI" on me, let me explain.

  

We have an unspoken rule that the last one out of the bed makes it! I will interject here that I CAN NOT crawl into an unmade bed...ewwwwwww! I like the look and feel of a neatly made bed. I have several decorative pillows on my bed, and the fact that I am "slightly" OCD, I have a certain way that those pillows are presented when the bed is freshly made.

Given the fact that most mornings I am the FIRST one up, the task of bed making has become my honey's. At first I would "adjust" the pillows to my liking, but let's face it...that was just plain silly. Some things you have to let go!

Anyway, one day I walked into the bedroom, and just had to smile at my honey's creativity. Since then, he has tickled my funny bone every morning. Each day he stacks the pillows a different way, and I must say some are very clever!

Below are a few examples of his "pillow talk". When I walk in the room the bed is the first thing I see...and he always makes me giggle! I hope he doesn't run out of ideas! If so, we will find another source for the much needed humor in our marriage.

May your marriages be filled with your own style of "pillow talk" humor.