I Love You

                                                           I Love You





     " Death is the great equalizer. It puts all things in their rightful perspective. It neutralizes transgressions, resentments and disappointments. If there is only a single chance to say something -- I love you is the most important thing we can say to each other. "

     Stephanie Ericsson
     Companion Through The Darkness


     I love you - the most endearing of sentiments between two people, probably the most used and sought after of expressions. Hugs, kisses, hand holding or whispering sweet words of prose into ones ear can only attain second place to I love you. Women are better at saying I love you than men, I think it is because they mature faster than men, so I have been told. Maybe it is because women are more prone to sentimentality and romance. Men on the other hand have no time for any sentiment that might be construed as a weakness, again - so I have been told.
     I grew up with out being told I was loved, sentimentality was a perceived thing. Consequently when I met Linda I had very little experience with love much less expressing it. I don't know which of us said it first, it could have been me as Linda was somewhat of a hard sell, she forced me to break tradition with my upbringing. What matters is that Linda was the first person I ever told that I loved them and she was the first person to ever tell me that they loved me. We said such things only when we were alone, after all this was nothing to be blurted out for the whole world to hear. We did love each other and would seek out opportunities for a quick kiss followed by an I love you or I would whisper I love you in her ear as I hugged her. Our letters written to each other when I was in Vietnam were littered with I love you's and signed I love you.
      All that was in the beginning, as we matured so did our love for each other. We sometimes stumbled and sometimes the storm clouds started to gather but we loved each other so much the fear of parting was unbearable so we fought to stay together, the words "I love you" turned disagreements into moments of shear bliss and dried the tears of despair.
     Most of her life Linda fought off depression, holding her tight and telling her how much I loved her as she cried was the only thing that kept her from sliding over the edge. Linda was a person that needed to be loved and I needed someone to love, we were a perfect fit for each other. Linda was the one who taught me to love her.
     Her illness did little to diminish what we had, if anything it strengthened our feelings for each other. Saying I love you several times a day became the norm, hugging was more frequent as were kisses and whispers in the ear. The last months, weeks and days of her life were no different than any other time just maybe more desperate. I tried to make I love you sound more sincere the hugs tighter and longer lasting, her happiness was more important than my sorrow.
     The above quote is from a book which was homework from my grief support group. The last words Linda spoke were to me, she said " I love you, I love you ", of all the times we said these words to each other this time is the one I will never forget. I don't know if she heard the last I love you I said to her but I like to think she did.
     Months have passed, the stress of loneliness is continuous, the pain of remembrance is still strong, the tears of sorrow still cloud my vision. Not long ago the house reverberated with the sound of Linda's voice, now it is haunted by her silence.  No more kisses, no more hugs, no more I love you's.
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     Today is March 30, 2015, it should be Linda's 66th birthday, were she still here she would be pleased that I remembered, I have forgotten my share of birthdays and paid the price for my forgetfulness. Instead of a celebration this day has become another reminder that Linda is not here, June is the month of our anniversary, September will mark the day of her death, then the holidays will start the cycle over again. I am told that someday these milestones will be marked with happy memories that make me smile and be thankful for the time we shared. Today I am sad not for the memories but that I miss my Linda.
     I Love You Sweetheart, Happy Birthday.

More Stories About Linda

                                 More Stories About Linda







     When I first met Linda she was wearing hard contact lens, soft lens wouldn't be available for quite some time. She had been wearing contacts for several years. She told me that she didn't know she needed glasses until one of her teachers had her eyes checked and chewed out her father for not noticing the problem. Once she got glasses she was amazed at the transition, up until then she thought that everyone saw the world thru blurred vision.
     The glasses worked well in that they opened up a whole new world for her that was full of details she had never seen before. The only draw back was that her vision changed so rapidly that she required new glasses annually and each prescription was stronger than the last one. It wasn't until she was a teenager that she tried contact lenses and things settled down, her vision didn't change for many years, in fact she was wearing the original lenses when we met and she didn't get new ones until years later. She never indicated to me that she had a problem although I was concerned that she would wear her contacts for a couple of days at a time only removing them for a quick cleaning, she was not supposed to sleep in them but she did.
     We were constantly on the go back then, swimming, water skiing, camping trips to the mountains or Florida. We would be up all night driving somewhere or partying to the wee hours of the morning. When driving a long distance I would get tired and she would take over for me and I would awaken later to find her hunched over the steering wheel, she would deny anything was wrong. She was in her late twenties when I finally got her to have her eyes checked again, her prescription had changed but not much. Because we did a lot of water skiing I had her get a pair of glasses to wear in case she lost a contact, her vision was so bad that the lenses of the glasses were thick, like the bottoms of coke bottles, but there was nothing she could do.
     Years went by, the boys were born and grew to be teenagers, she was a housewife and as such she was constantly on the go for activities involving the boys. Years later Linda told me the reason she had Clay go with her to craft shows was to read the road signs, her eyes were getting blurry again but she wouldn't admit to anything. Now is the time I will say that Linda was not only beautiful and genuinely a good person she was also stubborn, independent and always concerned about money, she took care of every one else before tending to her own needs.
     There was a fix for her problem, it was called radial keratotomy. It had been around for several years having been perfected in Russia of all places, the procedure had only been performed in the US for about ten years and Linda waited to see what after effects may occur. Finally in the mid 1990's she had the operation which involved slicing the iris of the eye like the spokes of a wagon wheel, if performed incorrectly the she would lose her eyesight. She had her eyes operated on one at a time and after many months of recovery the operation was a success.
     Several days after the first eye was operated on and the eye patch was removed she took a shower, when she got out she found me and with an excited voice she told me she had looked down while in the shower and saw her toes. This didn't connect in my brain right away because that is what people usually see when they look down while in a shower. Linda explained that she had never, the optimum word here is NEVER, seen her toes unless she was wearing contacts which she didn't wear while taking a shower. A day or so later she was washing dishes and looked out the window and saw a squirrel in a tree which in itself was nothing unusual except that she also saw individual leaves on the branches of the tree. Up until then all tree leaves were just a green blur.
     Linda's world was expanding larger than life itself, it was brighter than ever before and full of little inconsequential items like leaves, pebbles, and dust on the furniture. Everything I had taken for granted my whole life she was just now discovering in great detail, only then did I realize just how bad her vision had been all those years. I watched as she threaded a needle for the first time without squinting, watched as sweat ran into her eyes without making her cry. At this time she was probably as happy as she was when her sons were born, Linda was most beautiful when she was happy.
     About four years ago, that would be 2011, Linda's vision was once again deteriorating, the diagnosis was cataracts in both eyes, she was slowly going blind. We knew nothing of her heart condition at the time, it would not have mattered to me had we known, I would have rather she died on an operating table than had to live out her life unable to see the beauty in her world. The issue again was payment, no insurance and no money but we had credit cards and $5000 was, oh well you can't take it with you.
     The operation was successful and she was soon back watching the Hummingbirds fight over the feeders in her back yard, she could see to make quilts again.
     For most of her life Linda had problems with her vision but she thought it would never improve so she lived with it, she hand stitched quilts, embroidered, needlepointed, crocheted with small thread and never complained. Every bit of her work was beautiful, perfect because she would put up with nothing less. It was Linda that taught me to see beauty in the daily grind most of us call life, I would see a squirrel chewing up the lawn, she would see a cute, furry, cartoon like character playfully looking for food.
     In the end Linda slipped into a coma, her eyes open to a world she could no longer see, a sad commentary for someone who could see so much beauty in the blurry shadows of life.



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                                                                The Babysitter


     After years of trying to have a baby I was told I didn't have enough little squigglies running around. We tried to adopt but it was not only a difficult process back then but I personally had a problem with the program. I worked on my adoption issues but before things could get serious Linda went to the doctor one day and came home with the news that she was pregnant. I can't tell you my exact feelings at the moment but I do remember being scared to death, what me a father, why I'm 33 too old to be starting a family, how are we going to afford another mouth to feed, I was dumbfounded and awe struck at the same time.
     By the end of the nine month incubation period I had resigned myself that fatherhood was not that bad of an idea, I was actually looking forward to holding a little bundle of joy in my arms. Ultra sounds and fathers in the delivery room were ideas still in their infancy so we didn't know for sure the sex of the baby although I think Linda knew it to be a boy. Then the great day arrived, July 10, 1980 Michael Daniel Riggan arrived via cesarean section, he had a full head of dark hair and his Hungarian doctor pointed to the large wet spot on his surgical garb to indicate that all functions were operational.
     Much like today mothers who gave birth via caesarian section had to take things easy for a while so I helped out wherever I could with feeding and diaper changes. One morning I awoke to the sounds of Danny waking up, I decided that I could handle his feeding and told Linda to stay in bed. Danny was a couple of months old at this time and was bottle fed so the first thing I did was mix his formula and warm it up. While the bottle was warming I changed his diaper and carried him in to the kitchen to check on the bottle which was ready. There we were father and son sitting on the couch, me in my BVD's and Danny in his diaper cradled in my arm and sucking on the bottle when the biggest grin appeared on his face. I thought he was happy to be looking up at his dad until I felt a warm sensation on my belly and a strong aroma permeating the room, whoever said that a babies poop didn't smell was obviously not a parent.
     Changing diapers was part of the job and nothing that couldn't be handled even though this was a lot to deal with. I took Danny in to the bathroom, turned on the water in the tub, removed the diaper and was in the process of figuring out what to do next when Linda walked in wondering if I was trying to kill my son. You see, when I stood up to take Danny to the bathroom I had to put the bottle down but he wasn't thru with it and became angry, voicing his displeasure very loudly. There I stood poop running down my belly over my BVD's and thighs, holding my son at arms length trying to wash poop off his backside and all the while he was screaming and the water in the tub was turning brown.
     I don't remember Linda's exact words but I do remember the feeling of relief as mom came to the rescue.

     Another time Linda left me in charge of Danny, he was walking by this time, he and I were in the garage and I wanted him to come to me so I called out to him and his response was one of the few words in his vocabulary "no". When I started after him he turned and ran in the opposite direction which was toward the street and I gave chase. Those short little legs of his propelled him quickly down the drive just as a car was coming down the street and the driver could not see Danny because of a parked car at the curb, fortunately he could see me running toward the street and had slowed enough to slam on the brakes when Danny darted out in front of him. The old man was a little shaken, I was scared and Danny was scared as he stood in front of a car that had just come to a screeching halt about two feet from him, he started to cry although I am not sure that at that age he knew why. I picked up my son and apologized to the old man as he breathed heavily, Danny's crying brought Linda to the scene and she took him from me as I explained what had just happened. Linda held Danny with his face buried in her neck and walked away quietly talking to him in a soothing tone that calmed him. As for me I got the " you have to keep an eye on the baby at all times " speech.


     Then there was the time Linda went grocery shopping and left me to watch Danny, we were in the garage Danny was playing in the saw dust on the floor when a neighbor walked up and he and I started talking. As my neighbor and I continued to talk  Danny lost interest in saw dust and started to wander around the garage, I followed him out of the corner of my eye but became momentarily distracted which was enough time for him to get into trouble. I heard him cry out and turned to find a coke bottle which had acetone in it laying on the floor and Danny was wiping at his face. Without saying a word to my neighbor I swooped Danny up in my arms and rushed into the shower stall in our bedroom. I turned the cold water on full blast and with Danny's head resting in one of my hands and the other hand holding tightly to his ankles I held him under the cold shower to wash away any of the acetone.
     It was about this time that Linda comes home and hears Danny's screams from the near drowning he was undergoing and she walked into the bathroom. There we were, both of us fully clothed and soaking wet, Danny in a nearly upside down position was sputtering as the shower briskly sprayed in his face, his little arms flailed at the water as he tried to cry out. Linda was upset as we checked Danny out and determined him to be ok, once again I got the keep your eye on the kid speech accompanied by the I just can't leave you alone with him. It was some time before Danny and I could enjoy a little guy time with out mom within earshot.
   

     Now with all of my problems pertaining to parenthood this is not to say that Linda was perfect, she was a great mother, she loved both boys with all her heart and did everything in her power to make sure they reached adulthood as young men that we could be proud of, in that respect she was very successful despite my ineptitude and my not always being around. She did though have her own troubles which I didn't always find out about until after the fact.
     There was the time, when we lived in California, she and the boys had gone on a day trip, Danny who was about six at the time was apparently acting up and Linda, her nerves frayed, had had enough  so she pulled over to the side of the interstate and made him get out of the car and she drove off. She didn't go far and Danny got the point.
     Danny was such a handful as a preteen it was even money if it would be Linda or one of his teachers who would kill him prior to his reaching puberty. There was the night I called home to tell Linda I was working late, Clay answered and quickly told me Danny had removed a window screen in his room and jumped to the ground running off to who knows where. Linda was not concerned and actually seemed somewhat relieved. I rushed home and went to his friends house and brought him home.


     When Clay was just a baby he developed a fever and even started turning blue, Linda was alone with the boys, I was at work. Fortunately the girl next door was at home and drove Linda to the nearest clinic as Linda gave mouth to mouth to Clay. Once they reached the clinic the doctors packed Clay in ice to get his fever down, he survived.


     These are but a few of the perils of parenthood, for my part I can say that Linda was probably right, left to my own defenses I should not have been left alone with the boys, their survival was solely due to their mothers efforts, she loved them, took care of them, watched over them and turned them into men who are a credit to her name, a legacy which she was very proud of.  

Grandpa's Day Out

                                         Grandpa's Day Out




     These last couple of years watching MJ grow have really been great, it is amazing how much energy and enjoyment can come from such a small bundle. I wish I could see the world with the same innocent view that MJ does but like anyone over the age of eight I have to be content to watch the expressions of her face shift from amazement to wonder and awe then listen to her limited vocabulary of oohs and wows.
      I had promised Marie that I would come over a couple of times a week and watch MJ so that Marie could get some rest. I have been waiting for a nice day to take MJ outside and that day finally arrived although it was a little foggy and not as warm as I had hoped it was tolerable. Today there would be no Mommy or Daddy or Aunts, just MJ and me.
      Once MJ was dressed in her pink jacket, jeans and pink boots I grabbed her back pack that was loaded with all of the necessities needed to take a two year old more that fifty feet from home. We headed for a nearby park that had a pond with ducks, geese and a playground with swings and slides. This is the park where Sis and I brought her when we baby sat her a few weeks ago. The pond was good sized and held a collection of ducks and geese some of whom had a rather questionable heritage according to their coloring but they were a fascination for MJ and quite willing to eat the bread as she tossed it to them.
     Today we were the only ones at the park and I was able to stand back and watch MJ as she explored her surroundings unencumbered with anybody pulling her away or trying to talk her into going some place she didn't want to go. She would pickup pine cones and hold them up to me and say " look " or " wow ", some things were even "cool ". She was fascinated with small twigs, broken sticks and rocks that she would have to dig out of the gravel with her fingers. These common place things which we as adults tend to walk over without thought garner intense interest on her part at least until some other trinket catches her eye. She was like a honey bee going from flower to flower seeking honey only in her case she was seeking knowledge. It was like Christmas morning, everything was a present to be opened and played with until the next gift was unwrapped. There was the hole in the netting on the tennis court that she had to bend over to look at and then giggle with delight. She showed intense interest in a piece of flaking paint from the tennis court and curiously examined it as she said "ooh", she carried it around for about ten minutes refusing to give it up until she found a bottle cap.
     Then we found a shallow puddle of water that made a splashing sound when she stomped thru it in her boots, she giggled with delight as she ran back and forth thru the puddle. She didn't stop until a goose flew by flapping it's wings during a short flight to the pond, she watched wide eyed and simply said "wow" then it was off to find a yet undiscovered object of delight. There were goose feathers, dirt and surprisingly a yellow crayon, nothing escaped her eagle eyes.
     I let her walk every where, as she started up a hill she would grab a hold of my finger to steady herself. She was constantly looking around and pointing to something saying "look", not knowing if she was pointing near or far Grandpa just said "un huh" and she moved on. I can't wait for her to talk more clearly, there is so much I want to say to her.
     Walking around she would see things like the worn out and faded paint on the tennis court, I don't know what the original colors were but now they were a faded red trimmed with a black border that has faded to a bluish tint and stripped in white. MJ ran to the colors bent over pointing and saying "red, blue or white ".
     Lunch time was fast approaching so I loaded her up and we took off to Grandpa's house, the weather was still a little wimpy so she watched some Disney channel while she ate. I pulled out my copy of Monster's Inc., she clapped and said "yea". Once the movie started she crawled up on the couch and snuggled in next to me. I have to say moments like these are the reason I enjoy being a Grandpa.
     After the movie it was nap time, I had prepared the trundle bed for her to sleep on and had already laid out several stuffed animals. I picked her up along with Baby and a large pink rabbit and walked into the bedroom. I thought she would lay down with the stuffed animals on the bed but when I sat her down she tossed the blanket to the side, placed Baby and the rabbit at the other end of the bed, flopped face first next to Baby and was out like a light. All I could do was stand there with envy of her ability to fall asleep so fast, innocence, ain't it grand.
     While MJ slept I relaxed on the couch watching TV wanting to take my own nap but knowing I needed to be alert for her. It was quiet, no laughter, giggles or sounds of astonishment, I had time to think and remember back to a time when her Dad was two years old. Those were good days, I didn't travel or work as much back then and I was proud of my son. I used to put him on my shoulders and walk around the small neighborhood stopping to talk or let the older people touch and look at him, they were probably remembering their happier days just as I am now.
     MJ woke up several hours later, just as she always does, talking to her stuffed animals until someone comes for her. When I walked in she sat up with a smile on her face and held out her arms to me. A quick diaper change and she was ready to go again, she played for a little while and then it was time to go home.
     I look forward to the next outing and the next and the next. There was so much I missed out on with Danny and Clay because of my work, I feel that I have a second chance with MJ. There is a problem though, MJ's little brother Matthew is only a month old but in two years he will be the same as MJ is today soaking up knowledge like a sponge, filling my life with laughter and giggles. Matthew will be two, MJ will be four and Grandpa will seventy, I am sure I will be tested but I can say for certain I will never tire of laughter and giggles, hugs and kisses.
     I gotta say, I enjoy being a Grandpa !
    
    

Linda Stories

                                       
                                                       Linda Stories


                                 Accident Prone

     When Linda and I were dating my dad called to tell me my brother Pat was going into the Navy and would I want his car, just take over the payments. Up until this time I would hitchhike from the base in Cocoa Beach to Linda's house a distance of about 20 miles, at least two of those miles involved walking so obviously my answer was yes. The car was a six year old 1960 Ford in good condition.
     Funds were limited in those days, I only made $49.00 every two weeks but I had to have a car. I took leave and went home to get the car. I left Nashville with probably no more than $25 -$35 which should have been enough but then I wasn't counting on the generator going bad, to make a long story short I arrived back at the base with fumes in my tank and empty pockets.
     Linda and I made good use of the car, we were both proud of it. I decided that Linda needed to learn to drive it. She protested at first but I kept at her until she finally got behind the wheel. The street she lived on was short and you had to turn onto a rather busy two lane road. There was no power steering in the car, to make a sharp turn required having to turn the steering wheel completely around at least twice. Traffic was heavy going left so I had Linda turn right, she pulled out and started to make the turn but she failed to turn sharp enough and we wound up getting hit almost head-on.  Our injuries were light, mostly bruises but the car was totaled and Linda received a citation.
      Linda was very upset about the wreck, after all she had totaled my car. Any other suitor might have walked away taking this incident as an omen of things to come but I didn't see it that way. I may have lost the car but I still had the girl.
     This was accident number 1.


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     In 1972 we bought our first new car, it was a 1972 Dodge Demon the cheapest model they had, no carpet, air conditioning or automatic transmission and the seats were vinyl. To be honest gas prices were rising sharply and I could no longer afford my 69 GTO.
     I was working at a bank downtown and spent days at a time chasing people who wouldn't pay their bills and the bank provided me with a company car. Most of the time Linda road a bus to work so she would only need our car for grocery shopping and the like.
     One night I returned home and there sat the Demon in the drive, I noticed that the right front fender appeared as if someone had tried to open it with a giant can opener. I went inside where Linda was sitting on the couch crocheting. When I asked her what happened to the car she just gave me a strange look. She honestly had no idea of the damage.
     I finally deduced that two nights prior there had been a heavy rain storm and Linda had been caught out in it, rather than pull over to the side of the road and wait for it to pass she just slowed down and kept going ( she could be stubborn like that ). One part of the route home was a short curvy stretch of road that passed a house where a plumber lived and he often parked his work truck in the drive and that night it must have had a pipe protruding from the bed and Linda hit it as she passed by.
     We never fixed the fender we drove the car for another year or so and sold it as is to a mailman in the country. I suspect he never fixed it either.
     This was accident number 2.


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     Not long after we bought the previously mentioned Demon I had an opportunity to purchase a boat from a bank I worked with in Muscle Shoals, Al. The bank had repossessed the boat and needed to get rid of it and after several months made me a deal I couldn't pass up. It was a nice boat that originally cost about $4ooo and I got it for $1900. It was 18 ft. in length, tri hull design, walk thru windshield with a 125 hp. Johnson engine.
     We spent every weekend at the lake waterskiing or camping or both, we enjoyed the lake so much we bought a house just 200 yards from the water and kept the boat at a boat dock so we didn't have to be troubled with launching and loading the boat whenever we wanted to use it.
     One Saturday before we moved to the lake we picked up my little brother Ronnie and went to the lake for a day of waterskiing. Everything went fine until Linda, who was driving the boat with Ronnie sitting beside her, turned into this cove that was long and narrow. She quickly saw that there was other boat traffic in the cove headed her way. There was a side cove to the right, it was small but more importantly shallow and strewn with rocks. I  knew very well what was about to happen so I tried pulling on the rope to get Linda's attention but to no avail and finally I just tossed the rope in the air and settled into knee deep water. Linda kept going and hit some rocks going full blast, the engine raised up in the air and slammed down hard on the transom and raced at high speed before shutting down. I walked over to the boat and I must say I was pissed, I remember not saying anything at all. I checked the engine and found that all of the propeller blades had been sheared off to some extent, there was a dent in the lower unit but the motor ran.
     We were about a mile from he dock and the motor would barely make headway so it was a long quiet ride back. When we got to the dock I stepped out and tied up the boat and walked to the car, got in and started it, Linda and Ronnie were so concerned over my silence they ran to keep up so they wouldn't be left behind. I dropped Ronnie off at home without getting out of the car, when I reached our house I walked straight to the bedroom and went to bed. In all this time I never said a word.
     About an hour later I stirred in my sleep and awoke to find Linda stuffing clothes in a suitcase, tears were silently running down her cheeks.When I asked where she was going she said she was leaving me because she broke everything I had and didn't want to cause me anymore pain, I would be better off without her. I can't get down to details but let's just say that after pulling her down on the bed and kissing away the tears and telling her how much I loved her, I convinced her to unpack.
     Days later I found out that all the boat needed was a new $30 propeller, a far cry from what I thought. Linda learned to stay out of that shallow cove and I still cherish the memory of kissing away Linda's tears.
     That was accident number 3.


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     Things went pretty well for the next twenty years or so. It was sometime in the late nineties when I came home one night to find the Ford Taurus Linda drove was gone but Linda was home. Seems she had been out shopping and was stopped at a light when a cement truck rear ended her totaling
 the car.
     I wasn't involved in this and Linda assured me that it was all being taken care of, Linda was unhurt and that was the important thing.
     This was accident number 4.



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     Next comes the Dodge pickup truck we purchased in the later nineties. During this period I worked a very late second shift and Linda made doughnuts for the Ingles store often going to work around four in the morning, she drove the truck.
     One morning I was turning into the subdivision just as Linda was turning on to the hi-way. I glanced into the rear view mirror and noticed there was only one tail light showing. I turned around and drove to Ingles, Linda was already inside when I pulled along side the truck.  There it was, the right rear taillight busted and a piece if tree bark was embedded in it. Linda had no idea what had happened.
     Once I got home the sun was starting to come up and it didn't take long to figure things out. Linda had somehow managed to hit a small oak tree while backing out of the drive. Linda said it was dark  and our truck windows were dark tinted so she couldn't see the side mirrors while backing up. That was her story and she was sticking to it, beyond that I still haven't figured out how she managed to back up the drive and run into a tree four feet away from the driveway.
     I repaired the truck cheaply enough and decided Linda may need more room while backing so I cut down the tree. I liked that tree.
     This was accident number 5.



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     In 2007 we bought a new Ford truck, this was to be the last vehicle we would own, this was the truck the boys would fight over when we were gone, and it well may be after all.
     Not long after Linda was diagnosed with her heart troubles, she went shopping in Athens. I was in the garage when she pulled up, she got out of the truck and said " I'm alright ". The truck was a different story, the most obvious thing was the right side of the front bumper was actually bent around into the wheel well and folded back on itself, this was a steel bumper mind you. Other than that, most of the front end had to be replaced as well as the right front door. Total repair cost about $8500.
     Seems that Linda was on her way home and realized she was in the wrong lane and before she could change lanes the car in front of her stopped. The lady in the other car told police that she was not hurt but not surprisingly racked up a decent medical bill later, the whole thing wound up costing $38,000 .
     Linda was already starting to have some medical issues so I decided to retire her from driving, from that point on I drove her where ever she needed to go, I didn't mind as I got to hold her hand as I drove.
     The truck is still going, it has 110,000 miles and according to Ford after charging me $650 for a tune up it is good for another 100,000 miles. We'll see about that.
     This was accident number 6.

     Update: it is now 2023, the truck has about 158,000 miles. I only use it to tow the boat to the lake or pick up lumber at Lowe's.


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     Now before you assume that I never had an accident I must in all honesty say that I had my share. There was the new 1980 Chevy Malibu that I was driving when a woman decide she wanted my space on the road. We also had a Chevy Monte Carlo I was driving home from work when a big deer decided run across the road. The above mentioned Dodge truck attracted deer like flies, I killed two of them at the same spot in the road a year apart.
     These accidents that Linda seemed to be prone to were often a source of humor to our friends and a momentary irritant to me. Linda did several things that would make me bite my tongue but I could never stay mad at her, I loved her too much.
     I wish she were here now, I would let her drive the truck.