A Wife, Mommy, and Grandmother

Linda spent most of Christmas day at Charlotte - Douglass International Airport trying, in vain, to get to New Orleans. Frustrated, tired, and disappointed she ended up flying back home on the last flight back to Huntington that night. I had a plan that would allow her to spend Christmas Eve with "half of her sons and grandsons" here in Ashland, and part of Christmas day with the "other half" in The Big Easy. The flight from Charlotte to New Orleans was cancelled and she was left with scores of others to try to find a way to complete the trip. After enduring long lines and perusing schedules she was rerouted through Atlanta. Unfortunately, the only hopes of making it to the Crescent City by late Christmas night were dashed when the flight to Atlanta was delayed to the point that she would miss the connecting flight. Having only a couple of days to make the trip, and not interested in wasting one of the nights sleeping in the Charlotte or Atlanta airports, she opted to come on back home and try to go back to New Orleans when time would permit a longer visit.

I was especially sad for Linda. Opportunities to see Jay and Michelle, and especially those two little boys, are few and far between. She was so disappointed when they could not make the trip home for Thanksgiving, that I felt it would be a great Christmas present for her to go see them. Things don't always work out the way we plan.

If you asked Linda for her occupation, she would tell you that she works in Admissions at Ashland Community and Technical College. However, if the truth were known, her true vocation should be listed as "Wife, Mommy, and Grandmother". She enjoys what she does at the college. The extra money helps pay the bills, and the state employees medical insurance has been an absolute godsend to us for these past three years, but this is just a career path that she has taken later in life. It's something she needed to do for economic reasons. "Wife, Mommy, and Grandmother" is her calling. It is her passion. Furthermore, she's good at it!

She has been a wonderful wife and partner to me for 36 1/2 years. A song from back in the late 60's pretty well sums up what the first seven years of our marriage must have been like for her:

"You followed me to Texas, you followed me to Utah.

We didn't find it there so we moved on.

You followed me to Alabam, things were good in Birmingham.

We didn't find it there so we moved on.

I know you're tired of following

My elusive dreams and schemes.

Now they're only fleeting things -

My elusive dreams."

\

("My Elusive Dreams", Curly Putnam/Billy Sherill)

In those early years, my military obligation and other career opportunities took us from Huntington, WV to Willow Wood, OH; to Marquette, MI; to Biloxi, MS; to Baton Rouge, LA; and Ashland, KY. It wasn't easy for her. She wrapped her life around mine and proved to be the most unselfish person I have ever known. Often my long work hours and travel requirements left her to take care of two little boys on her own, in places far from "home and family". Add to that all that comes with 35 years of being a Pastor's wife! It couldn't have been easy for her, but she never complained. Not once! The housework, laundry, cooking, changing diapers, late night doctoring, shopping, and refereeing fights would have driven me to the edge. Not her.

She was a wife and mommy. That's what she did. That's what she loved.

She gloried in taking care of Jay and Benji. They were her life. I have never known a better mother. She did all the things that mommies do for and with their kids. She kept them clean and safe and cared for them when they were sick. She watched them like a hawk and nursed their skinned knees and broken hearts. She did the home room mother thing. She sat through countless ball games and band concerts.

Trauma struck in 1996. That's the year both boys married and our nest was totally empty within six months. It was a tough transition for both of us, but I think it was especially hard for Linda. The boys had been the center of her life. She loved her new daughters in law (Michelle and Leigh Anne) like they were the daughters she never had. She loved the girls who loved her boys. She offered advice and counsel when asked (and maybe sometimes when not asked) but if she did, it was always out of love.

The grandchildren began to come along in 2000 and life got all the more special. The grandmother instinct kicked in for Linda immediately. Quint, Will, Canon, and Asher have, in turn, become the lights of her life. The only person who could possibly love those little boys more than I do is Linda. We are blessed to have the local ones spend the night with us nearly every Friday, but it also makes us miss the ones who are so far away. That's why it's so tough on her - especially at holiday time - when she can't be with all of the ones she loves so dearly.

In the past few years, Linda has taken on some added (and unsought) responsibilities. After her mother passed away four years ago she has cared for her aging father. These past three years she has stood by me through the terrible diagnosis and resulting surgeries, hospitalizations and chemotherapy treatments. All of her adult life has been spent looking out for the needs of others. A few years ago, she decided to pick up where she left off about 38 years ago, and began taking classes to pursue her degree. It was a frightening thing for her after all those years away from the classroom, but in typical fashion she has carried the load and boasts a 4.0 GPA.

Linda has been my wife, lover, friend, and rock since 1973. She's the best. She came straight from the mold of the model wife and mother whom Solomon lauds in Proverbs 31. And while not on the inspired level of the Book of Proverbs, there is a more modern verse that sums up my feelings for the woman who God brought into my life in October, 1969. It goes like this:

"Every day the sun comes up around her.

She can make the birds sing harmony.

Every drop of rain is glad it found her.

Heaven must have made her just for me.

When she smiles so warm and tender,

A sight for sore eyes to see...

Ain't no woman like the one I've got.

(Oh, no, they don't come better)

To make her happy doesn't take a lot.

(She don't ask for things, no diamond rings)

So together, like a hand in glove

(Like the pages of a letter)

Ain't no woman like the one I love!

She can fill me up when it's down I'm goin',

Put a little music in my day.

Wouldn't be surprised if my love keeps growin'

Bigger every minute she's away.

I would kiss the ground she walks on

'Cause it's my word, my word she'll obey.

Ain't no woman like the one I've got.

(Well I kiss the ground she walks on.)

To make her happy doesn't take a lot.

(She's a real good friend right to the end.)

So together like a hand in glove,

(A lonely man when she's gone)

There ain't no woman like the one I've got!"

("Ain't No Woman Like The One I Got", by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter)

Yep. That pretty well sums it up. Ain't no woman like the one I got!

Three years ago it looked as though our time together might be coming to a close, but God has blessed us with some "extra" time. Every day is a bonus. Every day is precious.