Good morning guys. I hope this finds all well.
Isn’t it funny how life evolves? We get caught up in our own little worlds, and it is so easy to get to the point you literally take things for granted.
Your spouse for instance…
Then on April Fools Day, 2011, we got the news of Deb’s cancer, and boy, what a game-changer
You guys work and live together, you raise your children, the grandkids start droppin, and all of a sudden you wonder…where has the time gone?
You start off your lives together, most struggle through the early years tryin to eke out a livin, keep the kids in clothes, and money seems many times to be the center point of your world.
Why?
Cause there’s never enough of it. Lol.
As the years pass, things become a little easier, the kids have grown up and left home, and then you guys can start to ease back a bit, and really enjoy…each other.
You plan for your retirement, and start dreamin about how you think you’d like to spend what time you have left together, and life really starts to be enjoyable.
Just the two of you, in your own little world.
Mortality does become an issue, and you wonder, or I always did…what would Deb do without me?
Seems it never crossed my mind…what would I do…without Deb.
Then on April Fools Day, 2011, we got the news of Deb’s cancer, and boy, what a game-changer.
I know firsthand of so many others who get this same type of news every single day, and to be honest, we’ve talked with many of you, but nothing quite hits home….until it hits in YOUR own backyard!
God chose to bring Deb home on June 14th, 2012
This bein not just my opinion, but everyone who knew Deb, she amazed us all with her will to live, her desire to help others, her ability to keep that smile on her face and one in her heart, but most of all, her faith, love and trust that she had in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
She was unshakeable in this, and I promise you, her faith never wavered…not once.
You talk of people and their witness for God…this lady was incredible.
It wasn’t just something she spoke of, but was something that through her wording, and example, you could literally FEEL it in Deb.
You could see it in Deb, and I’ll never, as long as I live, be able to thank her enough for the example she set for me.
Literally, because of Deb, I came to know God as well.
Sure, after Deb’s passing, many, many of our friends would stop in to check on me, makin sure I was in fact okay, and many inviting me to attend church with them.
Yet, it WAS Deb, who although I’d always believed in God, got me to begin seeing the love God has, not just for me, but for all of us. We all ARE…God’s children.
I’ll always love Deb, and she promised she’d always be in my heart, and this I know will always be the case.
God chose to bring Deb home on June 14th, 2012, and to be quite honest, it was heart breaking. I was without a doubt, a lost man.
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She loved to laugh, and many, many times it was I who bore the brunt of her cacklin!
Then it became clearer, and clearer to me that although heart breaking, what a blessing this was for Deb.
She told me on June 5th, nine days prior to her passing that if God called, she WAS ready. She KNEW where she was going, and the only reservation she would have was leaving her family.
So you see, Deb was content in the turn her life had taken. She knew exactly what the next step was, and looked forward to it.
She is…where she wanted to be.
With this being said, I’d like to thank Judi and Brian of The Canada Free Press, who became fast friends to Deb and I both.
THEY gave the two of us the opportunity to meet, greet, and become kinda a part of so many of you guy's lives.
To be honest, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Our first post was on Jan. 17th of 2011, and to be perfectly honest once more, ole Deb was havin' the time of her life in the git goin' of our time with you all.
She could share a recipe, talk about her garden, putting up her vegetables, and talk as well about her days of her youth. Growin up, and the entirely different set of morals and virtues that were instilled in us then.
It also gave her a crowd to listen to her vent…bout me!
She loved to laugh, and many, many times it was I who bore the brunt of her cacklin!
A new season has emerged in my own life
My name on our site, “DUB,” was the result of her Mama REFUSIN to call me by my given name…Doug.
Always called me…Dub.
Deb would say… “MAMA, his name is DOUG!”
Her Mama’s reply, “Whatever.”
You can always go back through our archives and read Deb and the unmerciful joy she received in jerkin my chain, but to be honest, I loved jerkin hers as well!
Life with Deb was so much fun!
We literally thought…it would never end!
Yet…it did.
A new season has emerged in my own life…a season that one of our very good friends, Kathrine, who lost her husband Ronnie five years ago, has helped me to bring in.
It wasn’t something that either of us were lookin' for, another spouse or partner, her especially, shoot, Kathrine had never even dated anyone else after losin' Ronnie (whom Deb had nicknamed “Turtle”), but something that actually we both feel very strongly about now, that was God given to us.
An opportunity for both of us to be happy again with someone in our lives, while still in… “the world.”
So, this morning, I’d like to bring the era of Dub and Deb to a close…bringing in once more, a new season in my life…our life.
It isn’t something I ever anticipated happening, never dreamed of happening, but something that indeed has taken place.
I’ll always love Deb, she’ll always be a part of my life, you’ll always be able to read Deb’s posts on our site, and we’ll ALWAYS end our new posts with Deb’s favorite saying, one she lived by, and wished we all would live by as well.
“Keep a smile on your face, and one in your hearts.”
“Keep a smile on your face, and one in your hearts.”
Although gone, she’ll never be forgotten, and when readin bout Kathrine and my life now, always think of Deb (Turtle too) in our closing remarks!
Our bio at the end of our posts will change in the next day or two. Please understand this was never something intended, but simply due to circumstance, or the hand dealt us.
Thank you guys for all your love and concern you’ve always shown our way, you’ve all been great friends, and many of you ended up simply as…family!
“Lucky,” oops, I mean Kathrine and I hope this continues from here on out.
God Bless and be sure to… “Keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart.
Dub and Deb
More...
‘Ridin Out The Recession With Dub and Deb in “Miz Judi’s Kitchen’!
Note to Readers: There are a few things that Dub doesn’t know but one thing he does know is that the word ‘Riding’ (as in Riding Out the Recession) is spelled with a ‘g’ at the end. But Dub not only walks the walk, but speaks like he is: down home, true blue, and plain speakin’ country folk.
Dub and Deb are both native Floridians, live in Central Florida, and run a small business as well. They have five children, and seven grandchildren.
Both love to cook, love to laugh, grow a garden, and generally try to “aggravate” most anyone around them basically…all in good fun, of course!
