It's been five years......

From the time of the news of the diagnosis, there was never a moment when we thought he wouldn't beat this thing to a pulp. The choice of treatment was calculated out of intense and immense research and the course we took provided a good quality of life throughout the many months that followed.

Looking back now, even as we neared the end, we couldn't see around that corner. And even at the end, I never, not once, believed he would go. And when I hugged him and kissed him I didn't think it was goodbye. It took an instant to lose you. It will take the rest of my life to grieve.

With a love like ours, we always thought our lives together would be never-ending, that we would be together for the rest of our lives. But the realization is that he did live the rest of his life with me.  And what a magnificent life it was. 

When I think of the place where I found love, I think of being encircled in his arms, the place were I felt safe, warm,  protected, cherished, cozy, snug, loved and incredibly happy. 

My Darling, every minute without you has been excruciatingly painful deep within my heart. Time has changed nothing. I love you and miss you just as much as I ever did. I ache every day knowing you're not beside me. I carry within me your jokes and puns, your laughter and beautiful smile, your twinkling eyes, your loving touch. I keep my love for you deep within my soul, safe and everlasting.

I know you live on in the hearts of all you touched, especially our sons who miss you terribly. They channel you constantly with jokes and puns and are a constant reminder of the love we all shared.  We are your legacy. We are your voice and you live on in us. Our sons honor you in everything they do.

It's been five years that I've missed your arms around me. But the flashbacks of those memories will have to do. Even though the sorrow will never fade away until my heart stops beating, all the memories, those sweet memories are gifts you send to allow me an instant to reflect, to breathe, to get lost in the moment and to remember your life. 

I know you're watching over our sons and me. The love envelopes us like a beautiful cape. It's ever-present and comforting. 

My wonderful Warren, I miss you, my Darling. We had the greatest love story and I continue to live it with the sweetest of memories.

Copyright © 2022. Reisa Sterling Miller. All Rights Reserved.

It began with laughter

In the beginning.......  When my brother Ed heard that I was dating Warren and really liked him, his reaction had me convulsed with laughter. His comment:  "Warren? my fraternity brother? He looks like a taxicab with both of its doors open." He was referring to the fact that Warren's ears stuck out a little. But, so did mine! I knew it was all going to be good because Ed's reaction was priceless, funny and a portent of things to come.

Laughter was a hallmark of our time together from the very beginning.

It was not surprising that I recently found a yellow pad filled with jottings of joke lines, joke ideas and full jokes and puns while cleaning out a closet in our home office. It appears that he was preparing for a speaking engagement, I think, at the law school where he taught. I sat down to read them and was convulsed with laughter all over again, remembering when he would drop them on me, many at the most unlikely times. We laughed constantly.  What a gift. When memories coming flooding back, they're always accompanied by his puns, jokes and his incredibly beautiful, sweet smile and his twinkling eyes.

When I talk to the boys about Warren's puns and jokes, they inevitably reply in like fashion. They both have inherited his penchant for jokes. Laughter and making people smile is part of their DNA.

And the last thing he said to me (I won't write it here) was one of the most loving and hilarious things he ever could have said. I giggled inside hysterically and have that permanently etched in my mind and in my heart. I often call upon that memory when I'm in that dark place and the giggles bubble up from deep in my chest and it chases away the sadness, if but for a short while.

Copyright © 2022 Reisa Sterling Miller. All Rights Reserved