Blessed Be the Tie That Binds

    A wife laid her husband to rest today. Without a doubt, the love between the two of them was the love of a lifetime, a love that lasted nearly a lifetime, and was a love that transcended nearly everything else in their lives...except their faith.  The husband's failing heart and weakened body had not diminished the depths of love and tenderness this man felt for his bride. Even after sixty-seven years of marriage.
    I remember watching them as a couple many years ago when their health was not an issue. His eyes would light up whenever she entered the room. He continually found her to be delightful and funny and lovely. She was his girl, his M.E., and his love for her was as palpable and real as the sun that hangs in the sky. She felt the same about him. He was her rock, her best friend, her defender and her champion. She could always count on him to be there and to make things better. It was what he did.
   Together they were happier than they ever were apart. She glowed in his presence and became even softer and more lovely. He was tender and protective of her. And nothing gave him greater joy than making her happy.
   Year after year he was granted a reprieve from a variety of physical ailments that drained his health and vitality. As a man of steadfast faith and confidence in the surety of heaven, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he would stand before his Lord and Savior, Jesus. One day in the last season of his life here on earth, unbeknownst to his bride, he sat down to write her a note. I am sure that he thought long and hard about what to say to his beloved. He penned these words and then tucked them away in a place where only she would be sure to find them when death and the glories of heaven came to claim him.
    Here is David's last love letter to his bride, Mary Edith. You better get have some tissue handy. You are gonna need it.

and if I go
while you're still here . . .
know that I live on,
vibrating to a different measure
behind a thin veil you cannot see through
you will not see me
so you must have faith
I wait for the time when we can soar
together again
both aware of each other
Until then, live your life to the fullest
and when you need me,
just whisper my name in your heart
I will be there...