DECEMBER 25, 1995
 
MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO YOU
 
MY DEAREST ONE,
 
            WE HAVE SPENT 48 CHRISTMAS’S TOGETHER. SOME WERE BOUNTIFUL AND SOME WERE LEAN.
 
            I REMEMBER ONE PARTICULAR CHRISTMAS ON GREELEY’S COURT IN THE EARLY YEARS OF OUR MARRIAGE. I WANTED A WRIST WATCH SO BADLY AS I HAD NEVER HAD ONE. THE TV WAS ADVERTISING HAMILTON WATCHES STEADY AND I FOOLISHLY THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO GET ME ONE.
 
            CHRISTMAS MORNING CAME AND I ANXIOUSLY WAITED WHILE THE KIDS OPENED THEIR PRESENTS. MY WATCH WAS SURE TO COME. AFTER THE KIDS WITH THEIR SHINING EYES OPENED THEIR GIFTS, YOU HANDED ME A GIFT WRAPPED BOX, THE SIZE OF A WATCH. I WAS ECSTATIC. YOU SAID. “HERE IS YOUR HAMILTON WATCH.” WITH GREAT EXCITEMENT I OPENED THE BOX AND THERE INSIDE WAS AN IMITATION WATCH. THERE WASN’T EVEN ANY HANDS ON IT THAT MOVED. I WAS CRUSHED AND HURT. I WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW THAT WATCH WAS A GIFT OF TRUE LOVE. YOU WERE TELLING ME THAT IT WAS THE CLOSEST THING TO WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE LIKED TO GIVE ME.
 
            YOU KNEW WHAT LITTLE WE HAD, NEEDED TO BE GIVEN TO OUR KIDS.
 
            THERE WERE TIMES I THOUGHT WE WOULDN’T HAVE ANY MONEY FOR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS FOR THE KIDS. YOU WOULD GO TO THE TOP OF A CABINET OR OTHER HIDING PLACE AND PULL DOWN FORTY OR FIFTY DOLLARS YOU HAD SOMEHOW MANAGED TO KEEP ASIDE.
YOU HAVE ALWAYS MADE SACRIFICES FOR ME AND OUR KIDS. EVERYONE IN OUR FAMILY KNOWS THIS. YOU ALWAYS MADE SURE THERE WERE PLENTY OF PRESENTS UNDER THE TREE ON CHRISTMAS MORNING NO MATTER HOW BROKE WE WERE. YOU WANTED OUR KIDS TO KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH WE HAD SUCH A LARGE FAMILY, SANTA WOULD NEVER PASS BY OUR HOUSE WITHOUT STOPPING.
 
            BUT THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT CHRISTMAS. FROM THE TIME WE LIVED ON GREELEY’S COURT, WHEN THERE WERE ONLY FIVE KIDS, TO ROCKLAND AND THEN LINCOLN ST. EXT. WHEN THERE WERE TEN. YOUR KIDS WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU COMING HOME AFTER A HARD DAY’S WORK WITH A LUNCHPAIL FILLED WITH CANDY OR OTHER SURPRISES. OR WILL THEY EVER FORGET THAT EVERY NIGHT AFTER SUPPER, YOU WERE NEVER TOO TIRED TO GO OUT IN THE BACKYARD, TO HIT THE BASEBALL OUT TO THE BOYS SO THEY WOULD PLAY BETTER AT THEIR SCHOOL GAMES.
 
YOU ARE STILL CARRYING ON THE TRADITION OF BRINGING CANDY TO YOUR GRANDCHILDREN TODAY. THEY WON’T FORGET WHAT THEIR LOVING PAPA DOES FOR THEM. IT’S THOSE LITTLE THINGS THAT ARE SO IMPORTANT TO THEM.
 
MY NAME DOESN’T BELONG BESIDE YOURS ON THESE LITTLE GIFTS OF LOVE. I’M SORRY IT’S ON THEM TODAY. IT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN. THIS IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE. THIS IS WHY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.
 
WHEN WE WERE FIRST MARRIED, HOW MANY TIMES DID I ASK YOU, WHY YOU VERY RARELY TOLD ME THAT YOU LOVED ME AND YOU WOULD SAY, “WORDS DON’T MEAN ANYTHING.” ANOTHER LESSON I HAD TO LEARN, STAYING UP WITH ME HALF THE NIGHT HELPING TO FEED THE TWINS, THEN GOING TO WORK EARLY IN THE MORNING TO CARRY THE HOD ALL DAY. SENDING ME TO VISIT MY MOTHER AND WHEN I CAME HOME YOU HAD ALL THE FLOORS WASHED AND WAXED. THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS TO MENTION HERE. I COULD GO ON AND ON. THE ONLY EXCUSE I HAD IN THOSE DAYS WAS BEING TOO YOUNG TO KNOW THE MEANING OF LOVE. YOU CAN’T DO AS MUCH AS YOU USED TO BUT THE LOVE AND RESPECT YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD AND STILL DO FOR ME, IS SOMETHING I KNOW YOU HAVE PASSED DOWN IN SOME WAY TO ALL OF OUR KIDS. I APPRECIATE THAT SO VERY MUCH. THEY ARE FORTUNATE TO HAVE A DAD AND A PAPA LIKE YOU. I HOPE WHEN THE GOOD LORD CALLS US I WILL GO FIRST. I CAN’T EVEN BEGIN TO THINK OF A WORLD WITHOUT YOU IN IT.
 
I WANTED OUR KIDS, (I WISHED THEY ALL COULD HAVE BEEN HERE) AND ALL OF YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, TO HEAR THIS MESSAGE.
 
THERE’S SO MUCH ABOUT YOU THAT THEY’LL NEVER KNOW.
 
SO MY DARLING, THIS IS MY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE TO YOU.
 
DO YOU REMEMBER OUR SONG? “I’LL BE LOVING YOU ALWAYS”; WE FELT IT WAS WRITTEN FOR US, IT WAS!
 
MERRY CHRISTMAS HONEY
LIL
 
TODAY, AUGUST 29^TH, 2017, AFTER 70 YEARS OF MARRIAGE ON SEPTEMBER 28^TH, I WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING. WHILE WE WATCH 5 GENERATIONS OF OUR FAMILY LIVING, LOVING AND FLOURISHING IN THE WORLD THAT WE BEGAN FOR THEM ALL THOSE YEARS AGO. I DON’T THINK EITHER OF US KNEW AT 18 YEARS OLD THE TREMENDOUS BLESSINGS WE WOULD RECEIVE BECAUSE OF OUR PRECIOUS LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER.
 
HONEY, “I’LL BE LOVING YOU ALWAYS”

LIL