Buster, my ex-husband, passed away in the early morning hours today. Not saying anything I hadn’t already shared with him — and that we even had a good laugh about — is that although he was a horrible husband, he was a great man.
Buster and I remained friends after our divorce some 20 years ago. Neither of us ever missed texting on birthdays or reaching out at various other times throughout the years. He called me a couple weeks ago and asked about a specific photo he remembered me taking of him. He asked that I get it to him/his family because it’s what he wanted used on his obituary.
It was an extremely hard conversation. I could tell he was in pain. Now that he’s resting easier, I’m left to remember all the times he took chickens and casseroles for payment of services when he didn’t have the money to buy fuel oil. His heart was huge! So big in fact that I’m also reminded of the time I was in Las Vegas during the last days of my sister-in-law’s life. While I was gone, he took $20K out of my savings account to buy a semi truck so his friend, Mike, would have a job. (I’m still mad over that, Buster!)
He rarely got shook up over anything…
Even as a tornado put a tree through the roof of the house (while he was in the garage… pulling in cars so they weren’t damaged), he maintained his steady demeanor. I called him screaming, “THERE’S A TREE THROUGH THE ROOF AND WATER IS POURING IN AND THE CEILING FAN IS FLINGING DEBRIS EVERYWHERE! ”
His calm reply? “We’re gettin‘ a little bit of wind, ain’t we?“
God’s speed, Buster, you’ll be missed. 😞