Our Travels

Over the course of our life together, we never missed a beat. When the boys were small we took them to Florida to Disney World. It was a wonderful trip. Melvin decided to take one of his famous short cuts and a seven hour trip took eleven hours. We enjoyed the extended ride, and though we were cramped in The Ghost, laughter was abundant. Melvin's older brother Sidney, who was fondly called Beatum, lived in Tennessee. We often visited him. Sometimes it would be me, Melvin and the boys or us and his mother, his sisters and their families or just Melvin and I. However we rolled, we had a ball.
The last few years together we traveled extensively within the United States. Just before Melvin left, we were planning to go abroad, I was hoping to share Austrailia with him.
When we went to Naples, Florida, Melvin stole the show by renting a tandum bicycle. He and a friend, both over six feet tall, road the bike to the grocery store. They were the talk of the conference. In Pheonix, Arizona, he was walking down the street and was interviewed by one of the local telelvision stations. In New Orleans, a place we both adored, we would ride the trolley from one end of town to the other. We were so familiar with "Nawlenz" that the locals stopped hasseling us about those freebies to get you to purchase a time share. In Mississipi we got totally lost, but made some good friends. In Denver, Colorado, Melvin got a chance to see where I grew up. We toured my elementary and middle school. On th ship to the Bahamas we slept most of the day and partied all night. In the darkness of the ships promenade I would call out to Jesus, it was so beautiful, I knew he had to be there. In Georgia, we shopped and ate and visited friends. Whenever we'd arrive in a new town, Melvin would locate the nearest grocery store to our hotel. We would do room service a couple of nights or dine out, after that we made meals on the cheap in our room. The plane rides were the best, talking to people, neither of us never met any strangers, or him aggrivating me about something or someone on the plane, not to mention his flatulence.
For spring break of 2006 we were going to Miami, Florida to hang out on the beach. Wind went instead and sent me an incredible picture of a sunrise on the beach.
As sad as I was when Melvin passed, there was one solace, we had left nothing unsaid. We were together all the time and used that time wisely to express our feelings, thoughts, dreams, hopes and prayers. He knew how much I loved him and I knew how much he loved me.
There are times when your mate comes home and you are so  excited to see them that you could literally want jump in their arms, do it. There are times you want to share with them a part of you they have never seen or heard, share it. Whatever, positive act of love or passion you feel for the person, you know is your magnet, express it, share it, speak it, convey it, wallow in it, relish it, celebrate it, cherish it, give thanks for it because you don't ever want to say, "If only I had..."

tomorrow