Going Out In Style……

By Dee Oliver

Marriage is the union of two people becoming one.  I know I mention in my last post how much I enjoyed being married. Johnnie was the love of my life and my best friend. It seemed as if we told each other everything.

Everything except…………………

• What is the name of the man who cuts the grass?
• The garage that repairs the car?
• If the house needs painting who do I call?
• What about the leak in the roof?
• How about the rotten window he never got around to having replaced?  Just open the phone book and try and figure that one out!
• Furnaces/ air conditioners; I never took that course in college.
• Where does she take my clothes to be dried cleaned?
• How does the washer/dryer work? Vacuum? Dishwasher?
• Do we have a housekeeper? What is her name? What day does she come? How much does she get paid?
• If I need one now who do I call?
• What is the name of our children’s doctor?
• How often do they go to the dentist? Who is the dentist?
• We have a dog! A sick dog, now where does he go?
• Shoot! How do you start a lawn mower and I thought the mulch for the yard just automatically came twice a year.
• There is a snake in the kitchen!!! Really there was!! The kids left the back door open all day. I screamed, the snake stared at me more frightened than me as I dialed 911 and ran out the front door looking for a man!! Thank the good Lord above,  a lawn service was cutting my neighbors’ yard across the street.

I refer to these as pink jobs, blue jobs.

It didn’t take long after Johnnie’s death for me to realized that husbands and wives never divulge the information about their jobs to each other.

I thought I knew a lot about our lives together but ……... I really didn’t.

 I went into a bit of a panic mode when the furnace needed to be replaced. I had no idea who to call or what I should be paying for something like that. I am proud to say that I did it but not with out a lot of sleepless nights and hand wringing, something that could have been avoided if I had been a bit more pro-active when Johnnie started taking about needing to have that done. You see he was in the thought /looking process of this monumental project when he died. But when he was researching the options I wasn’t the least bit interested and quickly assess that it was a blue job and went about my pink jobs.

I have always wondered why widowers remarry so fast contrary to widows.

It is the pink jobs! Pink jobs show up first thing in the morning!

Really most men don’t even know how the coffee maker works. So ladies if you don’t want some woman moving into your home the week after you have departed to the heavenly realms. Teach him some pink jobs and be sure to learn some blue ones!!

Oh by the way, 911 doesn’t do snakes! You have to call an exterminator….(another blue job!)

Say your prayers, say I love you, trust in God and try to go out in style!!

 
Dee