I’ve run across a few journals that Ruth kept. Many offered up a daily question and she responded. They provide a glimpse of what she was thinking at the time. None of the journals are complete. They’re a collection of random thoughts and I’ve decided to share a few.
January 1, 2015 “What is your mission?” To make a difference in anyone’s life I meet.
That’s a great goal for everyone. Make a difference. Ruth did that. She made people smile, sometimes even garner a belly laugh, but most of all, she made a difference in her grandchildren’s lives. She loved her children but adored her grandchildren. She wanted them to be happy and successful. Most of all happy. She did things with them and engaged in their lives. She shared a lot of moments with Brady and Eva and was just getting to know how special young Jackson James is.
January 2, 2015 “Can people change?” Yes, and not always for the better.
Ruth looked at both sides of the people she met. She was pretty particular about who she let in. The older she got, the more particular she became. I let her take the lead with most of the couples we met. If she didn’t like them, we didn’t engage. If there were women she liked, but they had husbands I didn’t care for, she moved forward without me. The opposite was true as well. We were both good with that.
January 4, 2015 “The best part of today.” Being in The Villages.
We came to The Villages because my best friend, Jim, lived there. We bought our first home in 2004 and over the past almost nineteen years, we owned four different places. We didn’t have a home here for three of the nineteen.
When my California kids got married, and I was retiring, I wanted to go out west to be near them. We did that for three winters. The balance of the time we’ve spent our winters in Florida.
A couple of weeks prior to Ruth’s accident, I asked her if she had to choose between Michigan and The Villages which would she choose. She opted for Michigan because she loved our condo. In her words, “It’s perfect here. I love the condo, it’s close to David’s family, and there is beautiful nature all around us. And the best part is I can see it, but I don’t have to go in it.” That’s how she rolled.
January 7, 2015 “You are lucky: how so or how not so?” To have outlived my dad.
Her dad was never sick. He was one tough dude. I decided early on never to mess with him. We got along well, and I grew to love him too. After never being sick, not even a cold, he dropped dead of a heart attack at sixty-five. It was by far the worst day of Ruth’s life. While she had her share of illness over the years, her death came in the same fashion. She was here and then she wasn’t. She outlived him by ten years.
January 9, 2015 “What’s your favorite accessory?” My Bulova watch.
Ruth was wearing her Bulova the night of her accident. My daughter-in-law, Lindsay, loved the watch too. She’s wearing it now that Ruth’s gone. Special things need to pass on to special people.
There are no more entries from January of 2015. She wrote what she wanted, when she wanted. There’s no pattern to her writings or the topics she chose. She wrote what and when it suited her. Like her, I’ll share more of her one liners when I’m ready.