Member-only story
The Sweetest Love of All
Never hungry; never cold
A few years back I was working with a speech therapy patient north of Gainesville, Florida.
She was 89 years old and eating homemade pancakes with syrup that smelled so sweet it practically made me high.
She asked my age, I said 54…she asked if I was married…I said divorced.
She said, “Come here, baby, sit down.
When I was your age, I lost my first husband. We had a nice house and lots of stuff but he was a scoundrel. He cheated on me and left me with nothing.
But after a while, I met two men at church. One reminded me of my husband, and the other was a true country bumpkin and sweet as the day is long.
They both courted me.
The city slicker promised me fancy clothes and European vacations and the country boy said, ‘I will never be rich and will probably die in the home my parents left me 65 years ago, but I promise: If you marry me, you will never be hungry and never be cold.’
As I left her home, her husband squirmed out from the crawl space, muddy and filthy.
On wobbly legs he stood, and shook my hand, thanking me for helping his wife. I asked what he was doing under the house. He said it was the heater, he had to tinker with it sometimes.
I was saddened to hear this sweet lady died 6 months later, but I knew one thing for sure….she was never hungry and never cold.
