Remembering when...

As I write, I am parked on an embankment watching the late evening sun splash fingers of gold and silver across the San Luis Reservoir just west of Los Banos Ca. Almost completely surrounded by rolling hills and small lush mountains, this is just one of the many pieces of paradise we have shared together.

Memories spiral seemingly out of control as I pick out some of the many places we have visited, both together, and the ones you have only seen through my eyes as I evoke their beauty in conservation.

From the snow covered Evergreens in Ellensburg Washington to the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel that disappears under the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia Beach. The day we watched the new Stealth Bomber fighter jet coming straight towards us while driving east along highway 380 outside of Roswell New Mexico, to the small, out of the way motel in Trois Rivieres, Quebec Canada, where our picture still hangs on the wall after all these years, it was you who shared in my memories.

I can easily recall the small cabin nestled high up in the Smokey Mountains, the first time we went horseback riding together, and the drive up to Washington DC just for the fun of it.  The weekend at the beach in Jacksonville Florida, flying you out to Las Vegas Nevada to meet me just because I missed seeing you, and the long drive through Texas along the Mexico border.

From the first house we rented together, to the home we now own. From the first time we met in a little place called the Music Box in Gaylesville Alabama, to our kids joining us as we began a new family in that small chapel in Nashville Tennessee. It was you who kept us together. It was you who made us what we are.

Looking out through the windshield, I realize I am not parked along an embankment, but instead I am sitting alongside other trucks  waiting their turn to back into the docks for their next load.  My memories are strong enough to carry me back in time, and I can feel you here with me as visit just a few of them.

July 3rd will be 13 years since you took my name.  Again I cannot be home to be with you on our Anniversary, but I want you to know you are in my Thoughts, my Dreams, and my Prayers.

Soon we will be able to share our time, and I look forward to many years by your side.

I love you.