Keep a Smile on Your Face…and One in Your Heart

Hello guys. Debbie, known to all you as Deb, passed away Thursday June 14th shortly after noon at 12:15. She will be laid to rest on the morning of Tuesday June 19th.

As I sit here this day, so many things are going through my mind. Maybe some of them will make sense. First, I know Deb’s at peace. She was so blessed from the point of knowing our Lord and Savior, and I know without a doubt she’s at home. He has smiled on her for quite some time now. For this…I’m ecstatic for her, although my heart breaks that she’ll not be with me again in this life.

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I can’t count the times I’ve been sitting in our swing and expect, even trying to WILL her, to come through our front door to sit beside me once again. These times are past, but only for a short period. I will be with her again one day and that fact helps in my dealing with her loss. She does still sit beside me, she still walks with me, she still sleeps with me, she still comforts me, even holds me. Why? Because she told me she would. She asked me just last week if I’d be alright if she had to go. I told her yes, although I’d have a huge hole in my heart. She looked me straight in the eye and said, “No you won’t, because I’ll be there to fill it for you.” Deb’s biggest assets, right behind the love she had for me and her family was her courage and toughness. The words, no, or can’t, were not even in her vocabulary. You might knock her down, BUT…you couldn’t keep her down. She always got up, most times with her feathers ruffled. Take it from a man that knows, once you did ruffle those little feathers of hers, it was all over but the crying! After I’d aggravate her to the point she’d “John McEnroe” me down the porch, she was just like the comedian Sinbad’s Mamma. She’d come down to where I’d finally “landed,” dust me off, help me up and go, “Dub, why’d you push me to such a point I couldn’t help myself. You know I didn’t want to slap you! C’mon, let’s go find…your other eye!” Not once since her diagnosis with Stage 4 breast cancer, April 1, 2011, did she complain, or ask why. Never. She met it head-on, no different than any other challenge in her life. She stepped outside of the medical spectrum, decided on alternative treatments, and never looked back…not once. The quality of life we shared for those 14 or so months was second to none, and she never doubted she had made the right decision. It was the best time of our entire lives together. Bar none. The constant statement that I’ve heard time and time again from our friends and family is simply, “Debbie, we literally had forgotten…you were even sick.” Looking back now, I am guilty of the same thing. What an inspiration she has been for so many, and first and foremost to me. She was so much tougher than I could ever possibly have been in such a situation. I mean that, she was incredible… Our website was such a blessing for her and I both. She loved all you guys and your support for her was overwhelming to us. You touched our hearts...and souls. Thank you. So, I’d like to take the opportunity to let her say goodbye for now. When we see Deb again it will be in a much better place. We received an e-card from a good friend, Barbara L. in N.C. It stated…

I have this feeling there is one more star up in the sky tonight And even though it’s far away Its brightness and warmth still reach us here To make the night a little less dark…

Thank you so much, Barbara. Because of that card, I’ll always look into the night sky with an entirely different perspective. Looking back, I want you all to know that when she drew her last breath she had indeed left a lasting impression on my heart and soul. This was simply to leave…a smile on my face, and one in my heart. God Bless you and yours. Doug AND Deb