I Will See Her Again

[WaltC]

As I awoke this morning to the sound of my radio I heard a new song by Rhonda Vincent. Music has helped me survive these past 34 months since my wife Jeannie died from cancer only 3 months after the original diagnosis. Jean and I had been married for over 40 years and she was my "forever friend".

The song told the story of a widow who had been married to her husband for 60 years and related her strong faith and belief that she would see him again. I too look forward to the day and echo the words:

"I will see you again, for this isn't the end.

You're my forever friend, and I will see you again."

I am so glad that we live in the age of the internet where we can quickly find a new song and even buy a copy on-line. One can even purchase just the one song that we want for less than a dollar!

Here are the words to that song; I wish I could send you the music too. You can find a brief sample on itunes or Rounder records.

Rounder

I Will See You Again – Rhonda Vincent (Good Thing Going)

It was a gathering of some 300 people,

In the little church the crowd began to swell.

Why the send off for a simple country farmer?

For many loved and knew the old man well.

And as his bride of 60 years came forward,

She bravely walked to where his body lay,

A hush fell over all that stood around her.

She smiled through tears as she began to say:

"I will see you again, for this isn't the end.

You're my forever friend, and I will see you again."

Ever since a simple carpenter from Nazareth

Walked the mountains and the shores of Galilee.

Ever since he died and rose again on Easter,

Death doesn't have the same old victory.

Tonight I'll lay my head upon his pillow,

And cry until the breaking of the day.

But even in the pain of separation,

There's a hope inside my heart, that lets me say

"I will see you again, for this isn't the end.

You're my forever friend, and I will see you again."

Jesus - he made a way, there is coming a day,

So I will hold on till then, and I will see you again...

I will hold on till then, and I will see you again.

[LarrysGirl]

I hold onto that thought, that I will see him again. Thats about the only thing I look forward to now. Deborah

[lorikelly]

What a beautiful song. i know that we will all be together one day with our loved ones. Lori

[jaimie]

Walt...i don't know if you will remember me....i have not been on in over a year...it's jaimie...i just want to share something with you....it has now been 2 years and almost 3 months on the 13th of this month since i lost my one and only, herman....i put a memoriam in the paper each year...and this is what i wrote this year....

HERMAN JAMES KEHLER

November 15, 1964 - November 13, 2005

In Loving Memory of My Eight Million Dollar Man,

My Very Best Friend, My Husband

AFTERGLOW

I'd like the memory of me

To be a happy one

I'd like to leave an afterglow of smiles

When life is done

I'd like to leave an echo whispering softly

Down the ways

Of happy times and laughing times

And bright and sunny days

I'd like the tears of those who grieve

To dry before too long

And cherish those very special memories

To which I so belong

Herm, I saw this and knew that this is your wish for all of us.

I know that we are trying to fulfill your wish, but the tears still come and missing you here with us is always. You have a beautiful granddaughter...

little "Peanut"; whom I know you would have nicknamed exactly that...

and now our son Craige and our daugher-in-law Ange...will be giving us another little "grand person" for you to watch over as you watch over Paige Jaimie (Peanut).

Our son Justin; as our son Craige, are the men you always said you knew they would become; loving, respectful, caring "individuals"...whom i know love and miss you you so very much; as I so. Craige is a wonderful father and son; Justin is a wondersul son and a terrific uncle to Peanut; Ange is an amazing daughter-in law; and i know how very proud and at peace you are with who they have all become.

Herm, you left us with your "Afterglow" and so much more and I thank you for loving me and our children so very much and for giving us the strength to carry on, until we meet again.

"I Love You and That's Forever, This I Promise From The Heart"

All My Love, Now, Forever and Always,

Your Wife,

Lori

Walt...I just wanted to share this with you...life for me without Herman has never been the same and i know that it will never be and honestly there are so many times that i just want to give up....and then i think of Paige, Hermans' grandaughter,and mine...the difference is...Herm never had the chance to know, hold or spoil her and if you knew my Herm....that is all he would want to do. Now we will be having a grandson soon (they already know it's a boy)...and again, it tears me apart to know that Herm will not be able to hold Hunter Kenneth in his arms....but in my soul i know that he is holding Paige and Hunter both and watching over them, even more now since we almost lost Hunter and Ange...that's a very long story....but little Peanut (Paige) knows exactly who grandpa Herman is...not only have i showed her pictures, but our kids too...and she hold Hermans pictures and kisses him and calls him "gampa erman" and if you ask her where he is, at 18 months old...she tells us that "gampa is in mine heart and dreams"....and Walt that is what has kept me going so far....even though i have honestly wanted to give up so many times....

...i am so VERY sorry for going on about myself...when honestly all i truly wanted to say to you is that you are such an amazing human being with a beautiful soul.........

[LarrysGirl]

I can't believe its Jaimie!!!! Welcome back, we missed you! To all of the newer members, Jaimie and I share about the same time frame of losing Herman and Larry. Our lives felt like they were on pretty similar paths. I hope she will come back often and share how she's been coping. I wish you some peace Jaimie. Deborah

[jaimie]

thank you deborah. i have missed you all so very much...i think of you all, especially you deborah and derek, we share such a close time line, one that i know, none of us wants. life for me has been so hard without my herman, i take 5 steps forward and 6 steps back, like we all do. i am a grandma now as you can see, a wonderful granddaughter who will be 19 months on the 27th of this month. yes, it is very bitersweet for me, herm would never, ever let anyone, and i mean anyone hold her and play with her and just be a big goof with her, if only he was here to know her. but i do know in my heart and soul that he talks to her and plays with her all of the time, i can see that in the way she kisses his pictures and knows exactly who he is, yes, that is my doing and my boys as well. craige got married on july 14th of this year in my back yard and gave his dad a wonderful speach and he and ange will be giving me and herman a grandson sometime in early may, that right now is what i hold on to, 'cause if any of you had had the chance to know my herman, and i have thought about this more times than i can count, he would kick my a*@...can't say that word here, if i did not hold his grandchildren close for me, for them and especially for him. Yes, i still stuggle, all of the time, just like we all do and will always do...how could we not, we lost the love of our lives, our very best friends, our everything.....and yes, there are times when i am ready to pack it in and honestly i don't know why i have not and yet i do, it is because of how hard herman fought to stay with me and our children, to the very second that i saw him take his last breath on earth, wow, i have never shared that with anyone. i also know, that he tried so very, very hard to stay with us for as long as he could and he did...for 17 years of fighting, through all of his surgeries and treatments and pain, and i know in my heart and soul...only because of god, that he was so very tired, so tired and lately i have been thinking that yes, i did tell him (as our boys did) that if he could not do it anymore that it was okay to go, that we would be "ok" and yes often i question myself why i said that when all i wanted was for him to get better and to stay with us, but i know finally that he was listening to me, even though he barely could, and what right do i actually have to go against my word to herman when he did everything he could to stay with us....that is the exact question that i am struggling with now. tomorrow will be 2 years and 3 months since i lost the love of my life, i am now 40 and we were together since i was 14...way more than half of my life, i have never been able to dream since the day herman died and that night i had a nightmare and that was it....but he sends me songs...country songs...and i so do know that they are from herman....that i do know in my heart and soul.

looks like i have been rambling again and most likely made a lot of spelling mistakes because of the tears that are flowing, but oh well, some how i think that you will all accept that from me....

i miss you all and i love you all....lori