Another Year, Another Birthday
Jan is Still With Me and Always Will Be!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 56 seconds“I want to be home for your birthday,” Jan stated as I stood beside her in the hospital.
Before she was diagnosed with Lymphoma, I would have retorted by saying it was time to plan her birthday.
However, having been in the hospital almost continually since the middle of February, I knew Jan was not in the mood for my silliness.
“I want you home,” I said as my voice vanished. After taking a deep breath, I continued, “healthy, happy, and home for good.”
Jan made it home for my seventy-second birthday but was unhealthy.
Within days, she was so ill that she had to be admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery to install a stent.
Until that surgery, I had never been asked to have a copy of her advanced directory. When she was admitted to the hospital emergency department on April 2, 2021, I was not allowed to stay with her because of COVID.
An angel must have been driving my car, as I don’t remember how I got home that day.
The surgery was successful, and when I saw the warmth of her smile, she seemed like the healthiest she had been in years. Her voice was like the one I heard the day we met. Strong, confident, reassuring, and soothing.
I had no idea I only had a month left with Jan. By her birthday that year, she could not hear my birthday wishes or feel my kisses.
On Jan’s sixty-fourth birthday, I did my best rendition of “Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I’m sixty-four?”
Now that I am seventy-four, the Beatles melody would be off-key if anyone was willing to sing the song to me.
But I know that Jan is still with me now and forever. Her love will never die.
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When I'm Sixty Four
Jan is Still With Me and Always Will Be!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 56 secondsBithday Celebration
Jan is Still With Me and Always Will Be!
Estimated reading time: 1 minute, 56 secondsRichard Brown’s Birthday Celebration on March 30, 2023, at Ambeli Greek Tavern with Ana and Hugo!