The Road Less Traveled…..
Oh, I so relate to Robert Frost as he wrote “the road less traveled….” Tears come to my eyes because I look back “from whence I cometh”. Choices and decisions were made; and definitely it was toward the road less traveled.
To my dearest sons: you are my joy, pride and you both have fulfilled all my motherly expectations. Successful careers, successful marriages and FOUR granddaughters! For what more could I have asked?
Exactly one year ago we lost your Dad. The heartache of watching a strong man die a slow and painful death is almost too much to remember. You were strong with me. For twenty years we saw your Dad face health issues that we were told would take him in two short years. He lasted 20 years. The last year, grueling. There is no other way to describe what he went through. We all put on the face of strength, just like a lot of things that happen in life, and held one another up.
A short couple of months later your Mom took the road less traveled. All advice is to wait a year before entering into any kind of relationship, wait to sell a house, wait until…..who knows what! Your Dad became quite agitated when I told him I was going to sell my car…..he literally shook his finger at me saying “you deserve that car, don’t sell it”. The house was up for sale long before the year passed. However, the big decision came when I met Everett. Twenty days after meeting, we married. June 5 to June 25. This was the road less traveled. Together he and I have looked back and said we should have simply gotten in the car on June 5 and driven straight to Coeur d’ Alene. It was that easy; and it was that right.
I am not defending my actions except to thank you for your patience and support. My kids….all of you; supported and encouraged me. I have always wondered what you really thought of your Mom! Never has it been important to do what others thought right. I traveled my own road, made my own decisions, followed my conscience. The exception was this: I believed in being a wife; a partner to the man to whom I made the promise, ‘til death part us. Looking back on that pathway, I wonder many times what would have happened to each of us had I chosen to separate the family. My heart won’t let me go there because of YOU, my kids.
Today, I want you to know that if I ever questioned God, it was foolish thinking. I am deliriously happy with the man I married. Your Dad and I were truly opposites, while Everett and I are incredibly similar in our personalities, life choices, background, living strategies and goals for tomorrow.
It’s ironic that the anniversary of your Dad’s death this year is the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. I celebrate with you the joys of spring, the hope of eternity, the blessings of everyday life and the precious love we share with one another.
Love, Mom