Preparing the Way

About 10 years before Saralyn passed away, she said to me, "Russ, I need to talk to you about something." She went on to say, "I want you to promise me that if I die before you, you'll re-marry. Because the best thing you do is that you are an amazing husband." 

I was so surprised that I stammered as I replied, "You die before me?!! Are you kidding me?!! There's no way!!!" (Saralyn swam everyday, ate healthy and had a family history of living a long life. One of her grandfathers lived to be 102 and the other granddad lived to be 98 years old.) I went on to say, "Besides, I could never find another you." 

Saralyn answered, "I know you could never find another me, people are all different and no one can be replaced. However, I believe the Lord will send you someone who loves Him 1st, someone who is kind, caring, loving and forgiving. A person who may even love music they way you do. You know someone like a ........LINDA HUCKABEE." Saralyn wasn't saying it would be Linda, because we thought she was already married with a family of her own; but someone "like" Linda Huckabee. 

Then, on Sunday evening, June 15th, 2014, Saralyn closed her computer and said, "I just sent Linda Huckabee a friend request on FB." I smiled saying, "Wonderful. Let's see if we can take her, her husband and kids out for supper and find out what she's been up to the past 40 years." (At the time we hadn't seen or spoken to Linda since our days in college-over 40 years earlier) Just 21 hours later Saralyn bled to death in my arms due to a an aortic dissection. (Her aorta came unraveled from the inside and she died from internal bleeding.)

None of us had a clue that the Lord was taking the hand of my wife, Saralyn, to reach out and take the hand of Linda,(who had never married) my future wife, and bring her to me. At times I still shake my head in awe thinking about how good the Lord has been to me.