This past weekend, while participating in ACB Community Karaoke, I heard someone sing the song I’m featuring today. I heard this song many times during my younger years, but at that moment, something occurred to me.
After my late husband Bill proposed to me in 2005, I learned that he was in a couple of relationships before meeting me, and upon proposing to these other women, he was rejected. That, on top of losing his vision and ability to walk at an early age due to rheumatoid arthritis, having various surgeries in childhood and adulthood to correct physical issues, contracting West Nile virus as an adult, and finally, the two paralyzing strokes he suffered after marrying me, created a lot of pain and heartache in his life. Despite the good things that happened, by the time he proposed to me, he’d come so far and wanted to end his loneliness.
Here I was, never having been in a relationship, not having any idea of what romantic love was like. After his proposal, Bill gave me a cassette of love songs he downloaded from the Internet. If he’d included this song, I might have more clearly understood him. I want to believe now that during our seven years of marriage, I showed him what love is, though I didn’t really know. He definitely showed me. You can read more of our story in My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds.
New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me
Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.
Independently published with the help of DLD Books.
Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.
After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.
Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.
Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?
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