A visit with Bob

Today we visited Marlene's husband, Bob, at Bethel Home. We hadn't seen him since last September at Marlene's funeral. It was so good to see him.

Who's Marlene? She was a dear friend and co-worker I've had the privelege of knowing for seven years. During the time I've known them, Bob would drive Marlene to work each day and wait in the parking lot an hour or longer to pick her up from work. Sometimes he'd be waiting in the hot sunny parking lot so I'd bring some soda or water out to him and to say, "hi." He would tell me, "I still likes 'ya." and "Behave yourself and if you don't behave don't tell me about it."

Last year I was fortunate enough to have gone out to eat with Marlene and Bob after work, especially after some of our stressful days. After all that has happened during the last year, those visits with them are all the more precious to me. They were the sweetest couple I've ever met. Marlene's funeral was on the exact day of their 56th Wedding Anniversary in the same church where they were married. Their son told us that they started their lives together on the same day the ended their lives together.

Bob's memory has been fading, but he still remembers his sweet wife. He told us about when they first were married and when they had their kids. There's a song by Mark Schultz called, "Walking Her Home" and it reminds me of Marlene and Bob's relationship. It is a real tear-jerker.

I don't know if Bob remembered exactly who we were, but it was so nice to visit him. His sense of humor is sharp as a tack. While we visited he was quick to have something funny to say right after we said something. He had us laughing and he told us many times how much he loved us. He is such a sweet person that I'm so glad to have met. We are planning on visiting him again now that we know where he is living. I hope that we brought him as much love and joy as he has brought to us.