|
Al, my husband
of 10 years, died after a long, courageous battle with cancer in November
1996. I thought that my life had ended, too. We had worked really hard for 6
years to win, but 1996 went from bad to worse to over. It was devastating
that this was something I couldn't just "fix" ... too much beyond my
control. I had real trouble dealing with that. I am a fixer.
My employer was wonderful. "Take all the time you
need," I was told. Thanksgiving was only two weeks away. I knew I wanted to
get back into some kind of routine and out of the now very quiet house. The
holidays came and went. My family was wonderful. My sister provided me with
a 3' Christmas tree, all decorated, and with a kitty angel at the top.
Nothing came out of the attic for decorations that year. I figured it was
too much to clean up later and I was certainly too tired to have to deal
with all of it.
In January 1997, out of the blue my mom and dad's
bachelor neighbor called me one weekday evening and asked me if I'd like to
go out to Frisch's for a piece of pie. Al and I always thought Jim was such
a nice guy. Every time we had a garage sale at my parents' house, Jim would
always walk over and visit with us as we sat and waited for our "customers."
We had pretty much "adopted" him, since he was single
and so nice to have around, and we pretty much knew that he was lonely
living in that big house after his mother had following his father's death
and had moved out into the country. We would even take him out to eat with
all of us for our family "celebration" dinner after our garage sale success.
He would even help us clean up afterward.
He was such a "family" member, having lived across the
street for 18 years. He was even a pallbearer at Al's funeral and his entire
family came to the dinner we had after the funeral service.
Who would have ever known that that piece of pie would have given me new
life. Thirteen days later, I was presented with a beautiful engagement ring,
and the promise of a life of happiness if I chose to accept it. I am no
fool. I didn't even think it was too soon. Neither did either of our
families. We were in our mid-forties...we were both alone...and we had known
each other as friends for nearly 20 years.
I had actually been "alone" for years, with all the
sickness and hospitalizations.
I was ready to live again. Along with the ring was a
statue of two little mice...one asking the other one a question ... and he
was giving her a ring, too. I thought they were so cute.
Little did I know how those little mice could multiply!
For our June wedding, I gave my groom his present ...
it was the CT Navitity, all the pieces I could find locally. He was
thrilled! He had been very upset when it had disappeared from our Hallmark
store, since he had been looking at it every time we went to the mall. He
didn't know that three days after being released from the hospital after my
emergency hysterectomy (what bad timing!) in March, I had begged my mother
to take me to the mall so I could buy it for him, and I then I hid it until
June.
At our reception, we had a church "box" with a slot
in the top for cards and envelopes. Standing at the door to the church were
those little mice with the diamond ring ... except now Mackenzie had on a
top hat and Maxine had on a wedding veil. Had we known about a cake topper,
we would have definitely done that too, but we were new at this
collecting-business.
It has now been six years since our first date, and
over 900 (no duplicates) Charming Tails are permanently on display in our
own Mouse Room. When we had the opportunity to meet Dean in September 2001,
in Frankenmuth, Mich., our first little mouse figurine went with us and now
it is proudly signed by its creator.
Our Charming Tails collection has been something fun we can do together. We
enjoy mulling over the books and lists, and love reading the bulletin board
and visiting any CT sites and ebay. We still have several items on our "wish
list", but we have enjoyed every aspect of our hobby. We have made wonderful
friends and many great acquaintances.
We enjoy celebrating other people's good fortune and
every once in a while, we enjoy our own.
Jim liked the figurines, because sometimes they could say things to me that
he had trouble putting into words. But, I was the lucky one. I
got to marry my very best friend, and believe me, he is Charming.
Back
to the February "News in a Nutshell" newsletter
|
