Dearest Rick,
Back home it is snowing and everyone is growing weary of the cold. I’m not sure if the groundhog saw his shadow last week but I am sure that spring will not be here fast enough.
Here in Florida I am enjoying time away catching up with my parents. We had lunch and sangria with Uncle Lee and Aunt Linda yesterday. Today I visited with Aunt Bev and Uncle Bob and we had dinner with my cousin Stephanie who is town on business. It is perfect pool weather and I have taken nice long walks and had time to start reading a book. I only checked my work email once so far – I can’t help it you know. It will make it easier to jump back in when I return to work on Monday.
Life has been moving so fast. I’ve been looking forward to this break to read, rest and relax. I was looking forward to a change of scenery to help take my mind off of life without you. But there are reminders of you everywhere. I see you in the pool lifting the kids on your shoulders and launching them and smiling as they land with a big splash and lots of laughter. I see you knocking on the bathroom window while I shower, trying to prank me. I see us playing pinochle with mom and dad as the kids watch TV on the air mattress in the front room. I see you walking around Westwind in your shorts while all the snowbirds have jackets on because it dropped below 70 degrees. You are proudly telling them you are from up north. It isn’t obvious with your year round tan, a benefit of working outside each day.
When I went to sleep last night, I longed for you to surprise me in the middle of the night, like you did on Fathers day so many years ago when the kids and I were here for two weeks. At the time I thought I was dreaming and when I realized you were really standing there, it was one of the sweetest surprises of my life. It was the perfect example of how you made tym for me and the kids.
Life is so much harder without you. Selling the house, buying property, inspections, home repairs, remodeling contracts, doing the taxes, and yes, even the laundry.
Vacationing without you shouldn’t be hard too. But it is. I’m grateful for the many wonderful vacations we took to Hawaii , Mexico and Florida. I have lots of sweet memories from those wonderful trips. There will be no new memories to make with you having fun in the sun so I will cling to the old memories as I work on my tan.
Love,
Julie
