The Bottle House #4

That night as Molly lay awake she started to daydream.  She visioned herself in her mother's wedding gown.  She had found it in a trunk at her aunt's house in Raleigh.  One afternoon she had tried it on.  It fit her perfectly.  She placed the long veil over her head and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

I could be married to Lee she thought.  "Yes, I think I am in love with Lee Brown!"

"Molly Patricia Brown" she heard herself say.  

Lee had a hard time leaving Molly's place that night.  It took all he could do to turn and leave.  He waved back at her when he got to the crossing.  All the way home he kept saying to himself "You are one happy man, Lee Brown!"  "I want to ask her to marry me!"  First there was much work to be done.  He ran the last quarter mile home.

Lee and Molly were in church each Sunday.  They held hands sitting next to each other. They went for walks and had picnics.  Tongues began to wag around town among the gossipers.

 He labored on the farm tending to the animals and making plans for the Spring planting season.  He found his mother's wedding rings.  He cleaned them with some ammonia and castile soap with an old toothbrush.  They sparkled in the sunlight.  He would need to get them resized for Molly's slender finger.  

He started to pour a concrete foundation out in the clearing in the woods where he stored the colored bottles.  He took some  lumber that was out in the barn that he had intended to build a shed with.  Slowly but surely the small one room cottage started to take shape.  It was a fantasy dwelling.  There was even a tiny fire place.  Lee placed the colored bottles in a random pattern and they were kept in place by concrete and large stones and the lumber.  He never mentioned what he was doing because he wanted to surprise her for her birthday and propose to her inside that magical little bottle house that caught the rays of sunlight and cast colors in all directions.  He couldn't wait.

Molly's birthday was fast approaching and Lee was running behind.  He had been set back by the rain.  The corn needed planting.  His cow was due to have a calf.  He was wondering if he could possibly get it all done in enough time.

Finally just a few days before Molly's birthday on April 19th Lee put the last glass bottle in place and stepped back to admire his work.  It was small but he was able to enter the door by stooping over.  Once inside he could stand up with a few inches to spare over head.  It was perfect!

The jeweler had the rings ready for pick up and Lee hurried into town to get them.  He chose a small red velvet box to put them in and put it in his jacket pocket.  

The Bottle House #3

The next Sunday they met and Lee had the plots cleaned up and immaculate.

Molly brought some flowers in a large jar  and placed some on their graves as well as on her parents and grandmother's sites.

Lee took off his hat and wiped his brow as he leaned on the rake for support. It was a warm Indian summer day.

He rolled up the sleeves on his plaid shirt.  Molly couldn't help notice how muscular his forearms were.  She could see that the rest of his body was solid as rock as well.  "That's better!" she exclaimed.  "Pretty soon the weather won't be so nice and it will look barren and cold and covered in snow."

"We will do this again next Spring" he said.  They left the cemetery and walked slowly down to the road.  Lee turned to Molly and said " That was the most relaxing work I have ever done."  They strolled along in silence until they reached

Molly's home.  "Please come in, Lee.  You can get tidied up."  "No, I had better go on back.  I have the livestock to tend to before dark." he said looking down at his dirty boots and brushing off his pants.  

The next few months Molly traveled by train to Raleigh to visit with her aunt Rebecca and uncle Gus from her mother's side of the family for Thanksgiving and Christmas.   Lee attended church and prayed for Molly to return.  He found himself thinking of her constantly.

Around the farm he had found quite a few colored bottles. Cobalt blue, green,

yellow and cloudy clear.  Various sizes of them  were heaped in a pile over the years and weeds had invaded the spot.  He decided to clear out the area but wondered what he would do with all these bottles.  He thought of just breaking them and burying the shattered pieces.  But instead he put them in his wheelbarrow and took them out into a clearing in the woods.  Every time he came cross an empty bottle it would go out there on the pile.

Lee stayed busy.  He cleared the brush and tidied the grounds around the old farm house and barn.  Many years of life had been spent there.  There was

a large covered porch on the second story.  A big walnut tree was in the front yard.  He gathered the nuts in burlap bags and picked the apples to take into town to sell.  Housework had never interested him before.  Now he found himself sweeping and dusting furniture and airing out the big old house.  It was stately and looked much better.  Rugs were taken out to the line and beat clean.  His Mother's tablecloth printed with flowers was spread on the kitchen table.

By the time Molly returned from Raleigh,  Lee  had rehearsed in his mind what he wanted to say when he saw her.  He waited at the train depot for her to arrive.  She stepped off onto the platform dressed in a navy blue dress and wore a black coat and small hat and gloves to match.  It took his breath away and he totally forgot what he wanted to say.  Instead he reached for her luggage and said " I'm glad you are home!"  Molly smiled and thanked him for meeting her.  They walked to her house and filled each other in on what they had done.  Molly told him she went to the city and had enjoyed a fine meal at a restaurant and shopped for her aunt's Christmas present.  She said " I bought you something, Lee!"  She opened her suitcase and took out a beautiful blue  tie.  It was the color of his eyes.  "Wear it to church next Sunday, ok?"

"Alright!  Thank you.  It is very fine!"  He put the tie around his neck and quickly tied it and looked in the mirror.  Molly was standing behind him and he saw her reflection.  Turning around she was standing close to him and she reached out and straightened the knot and then stood on her toes to kiss him quickly on the cheek.  Lee circled his arms around her waist and lifted her up to him and kissed her on the lips.  It surprised both of them that when he finally put her feet back on the ground she took a step back and smoothed her hair

away from her face.  Then she looked up at his beaming smile and let him kiss her again.

The Bottle House #2

"I would like to see you again, Molly.  Please come with me to the picnic on the grounds at the church next Sunday." he told her as he left.  "Oh, I would love that! I will meet you at the church at eleven o'clock!" Molly said.

They sat together under the large oak tree at the edge of the church near the cemetery. The weather was perfect for a picnic.  He brought several quilts for them to sit on and lemonade inside mason jars with the lids on.    She brought fried chicken, sliced red tomatoes, potato salad and tea cakes.  Lee watched Molly as she arranged the lunch.

She was so delicate he thought.  The women in his family had been stocky and strong from farm work.  Their hands were as calloused as the men's.  Molly in contrast had features like a china doll.  Long lashes and that stunning dark hair that fell to her mid back.  She wore a green ribbon around her head that pulled her hair back from her face. Her white dress had small green polka dots, a full skirt and fitted bodice.  Her build was petite and she had all the right curves, too.  He caught a scent of verbena as she took off her sweater and tossed it on the quilt beside him.

Lee stretched out on his side with  his arm and hand propping him up so he could

enjoy the sight.  The trees were starting to turn colors and a few leaves fell on the blanket.  He tossed them to the side.  Molly turned and saw him watching her.

She gave him a full smile and announced " Lunch is ready!"  They could hear children laughing on the other side of the church.  Several ran by them  in a game of chase.  Mothers called their names to come and eat.  

Soon they were by themselves as the rest of the crowd had chosen to remain at the front of the church where there were long tables of food of all kinds.

Molly said " I'm so glad we decided to come over here to eat. There are too many people over there and you find yourself talking to people you don't really want to talk to.  How about you, Lee?" He told her " I know exactly what you mean.  Sometimes I don't want to come to church because people won't mind their own business.  There are some who come to church and then spend the week sinning so they can come clean the following Sunday."  

" Well, I'm glad  you came last week" Molly explained.  "I was wondering where you had been."  Lee felt a rush of excitement that she had actually missed him.

He never thought a beauty like her would ever be interested in a farm boy like him.

Lee helped pack the basket with the remainder of lunch and told her how good it was.  " I'm so full" he said as he rubbed his flat stomach and stretched out with his hands under his head.  "How old do you suppose this tree is?"  he asked.

Molly shrugged her shoulders and said she couldn't guess but it must be very old because of the size of the trunk and how massive the branches  were.

You could see this tree from a far distance as she walked from town toward it each Sunday.  

"Let's take a stroll through the cemetery" Molly told him as she picked up her sweater and put it over her shoulders and fastened the top pearl button.

She stretched out her arm to him and helped him up.  

"Right over here my parents and grandmother are buried" Molly said.

"I had the angel monument placed at my grandmother's grave last year.

It reminds me of her in so many ways."  Molly stopped at the foot of the white carved marble statue.  The angel had her arms at her sides and the palms of her hands turned slightly outward.  Her head was tilted down.  The wings on her shoulders flowed back.  Gentle curls of long hair were under the halo on her head.  You could feel a calmness come over you just by gazing at her.

Molly and Lee said a silent prayer together as they stood there.  A few leaves

had scattered across the ground and a gentle blanket of color sprinkled across the grave sites.

"Are your parent's and baby brothers here, Lee?"  Molly asked him.

"Yes, right over here."  He pointed to a small cluster of concrete headstones

surrounded by a rusting iron fence.  It was in the corner of the cemetery and the wind had pushed a mound of leaves over their graves.  He stooped over and picked up arms full of leaves and tossed them over the small enclosure.  "I confess I have not been out here in a long time.  I will bring a rake next week and get this all cleaned up and presentable."  Molly told him she would help him with that chore if he wanted her to.  "Yes, that would be very nice of you, but just bring yourself and some refreshment and I'll do the labor."     Cont'd.........

The Bottle House

This is a story of a man man I once knew when I was a little girl.

The Bottle House

Lee Brown was a handsome young man.  Standing six feet two inches tall he had a muscular build, sandy brown hair and blue eyes the color of the sky.  He worked on his family's farm.  Every day he would rise well before the sun peeked up over the edge of the hill and shone into his bedroom window.  Stretching and yawning going to the out house he could hear the crunch of the gravel beneath his boots.  On mornings like this he wanted to go back to the warmth of his bed and cover up with the tattered log cabin quilt his grandmother had made.  He would return to his dreams of Molly.  Instead he washed and put on his only suit and tie.

Lee spotted Molly at church that Sunday morning.  She wore a yellow dress with a small blue flower print.  Her long dark brunette hair was  pulled back at the nape of her slender neck and tied with a blue ribbon.  She was walking along the side of the church to the cemetery.

Following her with his eyes Lee watched as she stopped at a monument in the form of an angel.  Her head bowed as she made the sign of the cross.  She stood still several minutes praying then reached out and touched the statue and turned back toward the church.  

Lee was at the end of the walkway near the corner of the building as Molly approached.

Their eyes met and he stepped to the side to let her pass.  "Good morning, Molly" he said.

Molly stopped and extended her gloved hand to him and greeted him with a smile.  The feel of her hand in his made him weak.  "It's nice to see you at church, Lee."  "How have you been?" she said.  "I've been pretty busy since momma died.  The house is showing it's age and I have been fixing it and working the fields and tending to business on the farm.  There is a lot to do and I think we will have an early winter this year."  He wondered if he was saying too much.  He might scare her off.  Molly politely listened and agreed.  "Yes, I felt a chill in the air this morning and should have worn my jacket instead of this sweater.   But, I think it's going to be a beautiful day.  It is already warming up nicely."  "Would you mind if I walked you home, Molly?  You may wear my jacket over your shoulders to keep you warm." he offered.

"I would like that very much, Lee." Molly answered.

They took their time walking the dirt road that led into town.  Wildflowers in hues of pink, white and yellow grew along the edge of the fence.  Lee grasped a fist full of them and presented them to Molly.  "These are my favorite flowers!  My mother really liked them, too.  She said they made her happy!" he said with excitement.  "They make me happy, also" Molly said as she accepted them and put the bouquet up to her nose and took a whiff of their fragrance.  

Stopping at the gate in front of a white clapboard house they stood and talked of their families.  Molly invited him in.  "I'll just be a minute!" she said while walking into the tiny kitchen and placed the flowers in a milk white vase.   Lee took a seat in a rocking chair by the door.  He surveyed the room.  It was furnished with antiques.  There was a delicate flower pattern in the wallpaper of yellow tea roses.  The shade of the scrolled floor lamp was in the shape of a bell and had fringe.  He saw a tea set on the sideboard that was white and had pink roses and gold trim.  He had never seen anything like it.  The tablecloth was lace and there were curtains to match on the windows.  He was afraid to move in such a fine place.  He felt like a bull in a china shop.

Molly returned with some sandwiches on clear pink plates and some lemonade in glasses that had circular indentations on the surface.  "I thought you might be hungry, Lee. I hope you don't mind.  I did not eat anything before church and I'm starving!" she said.

"No, not at all.  I'm hungry, too!  Thank you!" he told her.

They both felt comfortable telling each other stories of each other.  Molly had moved to town after her grandmother had died and left her the house.  Her parents had died a few years earlier of an illness.  It was a shock to Molly and she relied on her grandmother for assistance but she was not in good health and died one night as Molly sat by her bed and held her hand.  She told Lee she did not know how she would ever be able to live without them but that she was learning how to rapidly.  Her grandmother came from  a well to do family in Hampton, VA.   She had married and had Molly's mother, Sara and another daughter named Rebecca.  Sarah then married  William Holmes.  Sarah had several miscarriages but finally gave birth to their only daughter, Molly.    She was the joy and light in their eyes.  

Lee told her about his parents.  They had homestead on the farm and scraped by for a living working the fields and raising livestock and selling fresh vegetables, eggs and milk to the grocer.  Lee had twin brothers Charles and Thomas that had died at birth.  His parents relied on Lee to help them on the farm before and after school.  He did not mind the lifestyle.  Work on the farm was gratifying and he loved being outdoors.  He had what they refer to as a farmers tan.  Face, neck and arms from the mid bicep to fingers  were tan.

But when the clothes came off the rest of the body was pale in comparison.  His daily attire was rugged.  At the end of a long day he would bathe and leave a ring in the tub.

They both laughed at their stories and spent the afternoon having a wonderful visit.

cont'd.....

If I could change anything, I'd change this.

I got really mad at him for buying a Harley.  He knew I hated motorcycles!  I had a phobia about them since being badly injured as a child on one.  It never dawned on me he would just go and get one.  That hurt.

He made it up by buying me a pair of diamond earrings just as expensive as his bike!  Ha, I have always called my earrings Harley's!

Funny now but it wasn't then.

One of the trips he took on the Harley  was with his friend David in Oct 2008.

They trailered the bikes up to the Smokey mountains to ride the Dragon's Tail.

He had a cold when he got home.  I told him to irrigate his sinuses like the ENT doctor had told him to do since having sinus surgery the year prior.  He told me afterward that it had hurt.  That had never been the case before. 

The next evening when I returned home from work he said, " look at my neck!"

The right side of his neck was swollen from his jaw to his collar bone!

"Oh, my gosh, you have to go to the doctor!"  He had already made an appointment for the next day.  The doctor put him on antibiotics for ten days.

The swelling improved but not enough so they wanted to do a neck node needle biopsy.  That was done on Dec 19, 2008 on his 59th birthday.  It was inconclusive but there were cells they were concerned about.  On Dec 31, 2008 he underwent a surgical biopsy and removal of the neck node.  On January 9, 2009 our whole world came crashing down around us with a cancer diagnosis.

Both girls were pregnant.  We had to tell them and it was the most gut wrenching news to give them our families and friends.

"Honey, just be normal", he told me that day when we got the news.  It would be the hardest thing I would ever do.  But, if he was going to get through this, then that is what I would do for him.  "Let's Stay Together" kept playing in my head.

How can that happen to such a strong, active and fit man?  He was the picture of health that day just a few months earlier on the jet ski with his fist in the air!

The study was still inconclusive because they did not know  what type of cancer this was.  It was suspected it originated in his tonsils.  He had a PET scan and a tonsillectomy.  It was stage IVc Nasopharangeal cancer.  Located up behind his sinus above your soft pallate at the roof of your mouth.  Taking an imaginary line from your ear to the bridge of your nose and then down through the top of your head.   At the intersection of those two points.  Smack dab in the middle of your head but not in the brain. Rare for the Caucasian race.  Predominant in Asia and Africa!  What? How do you get that type of cancer?  We will never know.  The PET scan showed distant bone metastasis to his pelvis and femurs.  The prognosis was grim.

A week later he started extensive chemotherapy with three very harsh drugs.  It depleted his blood work so dramatically he was put in the hospital and put on reverse isolation for ten days.  He was violently sick and he wasn't healed yet from the tonsillectomy.

All  he could do was lay still in the dark room.  I suited up in protective gear and sat vigil  with him.  I called his brother Mike and I told him how severely sick he was.  I didn't leave his side.

Mike knew how bad this was as he is a nurse, too.  He got on the next plane from Kansas to be here for us.   

Staying Together.  "We shall endeavor to persevere!"  It was Jimmy's mantra.

He prayed to live long enough to see the newest grand babies born which was a grandson, Chase in July and twin girls Kannon and Kate in August of 2009.  Jackson, his biggest buddy was five.

Many rounds of chemo, radiation, cyber knife procedures,  hospitalizations.  Up and downs along the way.  Losing all his hair, growing it back.   Getting strong again just to be beaten down again.  He was the strongest man I ever knew!  Superman on Kryptonite!

A short remission.  A chance to celebrate and return to police work!  He never stopped.  He gave every ounce of himself to trying everything he could. Allergic reactions to drugs, heart rhythm disturbances, anorexia, weight loss, dehydration.

Horrific pain with the bone metastasis. Side effects from radiation. He kept going.

Babysitting all the kids.  He loved that part!  Wrestling with them on the bed, teaching them how to walk, comforting them when they cried.  

We have a big garden tub in our bathroom.

We would run their bath and put all of the babies in there and then Jimmy would put on his bathing suit and get in with them!  The bathroom was overflowing with bubbles and laughter!

He retired from the police department in May, 2010 when the scan showed the cancer was back.  

He had bought two years from his military service that counted toward his retirement.  He served our city of Jacksonville for seventeen years as a patrolman.  He never wanted to climb the ranks as he had enough of administration in the Navy.   He retired on full disability.  

He started more chemo.  He kept going. He kept living life to it's fullest with the four grandchildren our families, friends and each other.  Staying busy doing things all the time.

Jackson told him he was the strongest PaPa with cancer he ever knew!

He got strength back, rode his Haley when he felt good and I went, too!

He told me, "I had the best day today because I spent it with you!"  I melted.

Last June 16, 2012 we returned to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for our 39th anniversary.  We hadn't been in four years.  He looked and felt pretty good.  We really had a beautiful time.   He even got one of those fake tattoos just above his port on his chest that said "Karen" for his chemo nurse to see the following week! So funny! Our friends David and Kathy traveled with us.   I caught a sailfish when we went deep sea fishing.  It was the hardest physical thing I had ever done.  Thank goodness for David's help pulling back with the rod.  Great memories!

On January 9, 2013 which was the fourth anniversary since his diagnosis, while he was in the hospital he said,  "Honey, why don't you retire?"

It was like being asked to marry all over again and I didn't hesitate as I said, "yes!"

A few weeks passed and things were not going well after another scan and resuming chemo.  It was just too devastating to handle.

He decided he would enter hospice care and halted any further treatments.

He wanted his brother, Mike with him and us.   He made many phone calls to family and friends.  He gave Mike back his hairbrush, too and said he was sorry for taking it so long ago!  He made peace with God which was never in question anyway.  He was a Christian man.

The light was dim over his bed.  Lauren, Wendy, Mike and I held his hands, the girls sang to him and we played our favorite songs and talked to him. 

The light flickered and got brighter.   " Did  you see that?", we asked each other at the same time.  This happened TWICE just a second or two apart and then went dim again and he was gone.

"Let's Stay Together" played until his last day with me on February 5, 2013 at

10:55 pm.

Met April 5, 1972

Married June 16, 1973

Entered Heaven Feb 5, 2013 at age 63 years, 1 month and 17 days.

I'll love him and he will stay with me forever in my heart.

Cathy Windham

2/17/13

#19 "Let's Stay Together" cont'd here...

We enjoyed the Keys.  Life there was easy going.  Five o'clock somewhere

behavior!  Sunset cruises, crystal clear ice blue and green water.  Miles of beauty everywhere.  Atlantic on one side and Gulf of Mexico on the other side of the road.  Every single island like a precious string of gems on a necklace strewn across a pale  blue piece of satin.

There is a little island just off to the left of the seven mile bridge heading south on US1.  We used to take the boat or jet ski out there and hang out.  It was deserted with a small sandy beach on the west side and it's east side had a rocky tidal pool.  It was the perfect little place to wade out from the shore before the deep drop off.  We named it " Our Little Island" as if we were the only ones who knew it was there!

No matter where we stayed in the Keys we loved it.

We took our nieces, Savannah and Catherine  and our grandson Jackson down there when the girls graduated High school.  Wendy got married there.  We stopped in Key West on a cruise to the Bahamas.  On one trip we took both our mothers.  They were flabbergasted! We snorkeled, para sailed, drank rum runners and beer.  We enjoyed taking the sunset cruises, too.  One of the best pictures of him I took was as he came to a stop on the jet ski and raised his fist the air before jetting off in a huge spray of water toward the dock!  

We got too much sun but never had too much fun.

Jimmy wore a mustache for years.  It suited him and he said he needed it because he thought his upper lip was thin.  Others thought and even had the nerve to complain to his police Sergeant that it made him, " look mean!"  Ok, I know one thing and that is, if Jimmy acted mean to anyone they usually deserved it!  Off came the mustache.  

He really had a heart of gold reserved for those he loved and genuinely cared for.  For instance, there was an elderly man who used to eat at the diner with the guys he went to breakfast with.  This guy didn't have much, made his living collecting used old appliances fixing them up and reselling them.  He had leased a pick up truck.  When the lease was up he couldn't afford to buy the truck.  Jimmy knowing that this truck was this mans livelihood took out a loan, gave the man the money to buy the truck and took payments from him when he could pay him.  This old gentleman died during that time.

We had the loan and his family was not able to buy the truck.  To Jimmy that did not matter.  He got it worked out to acquire the truck and was able to sell it and pay off the loan.  

Here is another for instance.  We have a guy who mows our lawn.  This guy works hard at another job during the week and does this on the side for extra money to make ends meet.   One day the industrial mower this guy used broke and needed replacing.  Guess who bought a new one for the man to work off in exchange for lawn mowing?  Yep, Jimmy! 

 During a hurricane he brought an elderly man to our home instead of to a shelter.  This man was driving and got lost in Jacksonville in the terrible storm.  When Jimmy saw that he was confused and ran his driver license information he found out that there was a Missing Persons report out from Valdosta, Ga. and the man had Alzheimer's.  Jimmy contacted his family and they drove to our home in that hurricane to get him.  They had been beside themselves with worry. Over the years, he constantly was doing kind things for others. This was the true Christian in him.

One evening we went to visit Danny in the hospital in Green Cove Springs.

I had not told mom we were going as we would be back soon.

On our way home along the tree lined road that runs parallel to the river a beer truck turned right in front of our pickup truck.  All I remember is seeing the truck turning across our lane and somehow Jimmy maintained control and was able to narrowly avoid being hit.  I screamed a noise I had never made before!  We were spared being killed that night.   You couldn't have passed a piece of paper between the two vehicles by the time the big truck stopped.  Thank you, Jesus!

It was the most afraid I had ever been in my life.  Later Jimmy told me it was a miracle, too.  He had quick reflexes and hazardous driving training with the police department that made all the difference.  God blessed us.  Lucky again.

#18 Cruising along.....

I remember sitting in a restaurant on the intracoastal waterway in Palm Valley, Florida.  It was a clear pretty day and the sun sparkled on the surface of the water like diamonds.  There were several boats tied to the dock.  I told Jimmy that if I ever had a boat it would be like one of them.  Big enough for us to go out for a day or two with others and even camp out on the water.  Not long after that we bought one.  We had so much fun.  We would trailer it and launch at various ramps along the St. John's River.  We went downtown to watch fireworks or the Blue Angels soar overhead from NAS  Jacksonville. We cruised all the way south to Lake George or north to Cumberland Island, GA. where wild horses roam the beach.

Waking up on the boat on a chilly January 1st morning anchored at Collee Cove was a serene sight.  The light mist on the water hovered just above the still surface.  I held my coffee mug with both hands to keep them warm.  The long strands of Spanish moss dripped from the old oaks that stretched out from the shore.  The sun was coming up and there was a golden glow in the air that made the cove appear as though it was an old sepia photograph.  In moments like that your New Year resolutions were simply to enjoy each and every day.

We took the boat to the Keys a few times.  We named it "Sunset Cruz."  Many times we would meet up after work at the marina change clothes and just go out a little way drop the anchor and watch the sunset.  

There were other excursions that were not so pleasant when we got caught out in some of the thunderstorms that roar up the river in the heat of the summer.  Or the time he ran out of gas and drifted across the river and tied up to a abandoned dock while our friends David and Kathy came on their boat and brought him gas.  The girls were with him and it was already dark.  I was home with mom.  Scary!  When our second boat sank in one of the hurricanes I cried.  Jimmy was glad!  We had the boat covered at full purchase price so in the long run that worked out ok.  The replacement boat was fun, too, but, by then gas prices were outrageous and we pulled it out of the water and in the side yard until we sold it. You know what they say.  The best days are when you buy a boat and when you sell it!  I often look at marinas and see the masses of various vessels just sitting idle.  Hardly any of them can be taken out and enjoyed.

Life after mom was happening after March, 24, 2007. He loved her, too.