A great man has left us. Many of you know that I’ve been a caregiver for my husband for the past couple of years. He went into a huge decline earlier this year, and we made the decision to have him admitted to hospice. He passed away very, very peacefully early in the morning of May 18, with his son and me holding his hands. The world has lost quite a character.

James was a talented cook, who could do anything in the kitchen. He could go to a restaurant and then go home and replicate what he’d had. He won almost any chili or shepherd’s pie throwdown he was in. And his soups were amazing. He could do impressions that would rival a Vegas performer, and man was he funny. He would also be rather surly — I called him Archie Bunker, and I wasn’t alone in that — but he melted around little kids and especially babies. He’d shave whenever the grandkids came over, because they didn’t like his beard. His favorite movie was Full Metal Jacket, as he was a 34 year veteran of the Marine Corps. He never let me hear his drill sergeant voice, because he said “you don’t WANT to.” His boys, however, said it was legendary, especially when he’d line them up to see who had broken something. Yet this man, so larger than life, and such a clown, cried at every wedding he went to, including watching Brie Bella and Daniel Brian of the WWE get married. He was an Iron Marshmallow.
I miss him so much, and once the dust settles, I will have a huge hole in my life, not only because of him not being here, but because of the time spent caring for him, especially in the past year. I’m not sure yet how that hole will be (slowly) filled. I know that I plan to spend more time on my business. I will be spending a lot of time going thru the house, as I may downsize. If not, I will consider it to be a Swedish Death Cleaning. Meantime, my stepson has been helping out, and is amazed at the number of sewing patterns here, so yes, I will definitely be working at getting them listed.
And I plan to take some time for me. I took off for a couple of days last week, and drove to Atlanta to see the Madame Gres exhibit at the SCAD. I will be sharing pictures here soon. Then I went to a cabin in Tennesse and was just still for a couple of days. It was SO nice, and truly a spiritual experience. I plan to see all of the lower 48 states, and will likely be going to New England with my daughter and her three kids — four, three and 18 months. (I’m gonna need all the prayers, positive energy and good juju for that one!)
So I’ll be back on a more regular basis in this space. Hang in there as it revs up, and meantime, enjoy this video of my husband being my husband. What a goofball he was.