As a young husband, Bubba worked hard at the paper mill. We didn't have much money. The payment on the corvette used up one whole $95.00 paycheck! (I wrecked it a couple of weeks after the wedding.) He painted on the side to pick up extra money. We lived through years of paper mill rumors of shut downs. During a lengthy strike at the mill, he bought a shrimp boat with my dad and shrimped for a living. He built a two story addition onto our little house doing all the work himself. During those early years, we had our ups and downs but he was always rock solid. Money was tight -- partly because he had the wisdom and good judgement to save for our future. Sometimes we would argue, but we always forgave each other never holding a grudge.
As a father, Bubba was devoted. Even though he had to get up early in the morning to go to work at the mill, he always got up with me during the night when Baby Amy woke up and would run down the stairs to the kitchen to warm her bottle and bring it back up. Eventually we were able to move into a new home. He continued to work at the mill and did some painting on the side. That enabled me to be a stay-at-home mom.
He saw to it that Amy had a car while she was in high school. He never put anything he wanted first. It was always Amy and me. He encouraged her and financed a college education. What a proud father he was when she graduated and then received her master's degree! What an empty nest we had when she left for college and then later married!
Life is different now. It's just the two of us. The rumors of the paper mill shutting down came true and Bubba started a painting business of his own. I called him the "painter to the stars" because he was the most desired painter around. I guess even his customers recognized how special he is. He eventually accepted a job at a shrimp processing plant doing their maintenance work. He learned how to fix things that he would have never dreamed he could conquer. Then the day came that he retired.
Since his retirement, Bubba has taken over the demands of the house so that I can finish out my time and retire. Somewhere along the way, he started making my coffee every morning and bringing me a cup (or two or three). He learned to cook and can now prepare as good a meal as I ever could, some even better. He cleans the house and washes the clothes and keeps the yard work done. He buys our groceries. He does all this so that I don't have to do it on the weekends.
Bubba is an amazing grandfather. He loves spending time with Amelia. He gets excited about the "treats" we plan for her. He loves talking about the cute things she does.
I don't want you to think he is perfect because he is not. His only obvious flaw is that he worries. He worries about trees falling on the house, the amount of oil in the car, the septic tank, pulling the trailer, identity theft, someone stealing his boat, traffic, weather, the price of gas, the running toilet, freezing weather, rotting wood, the roof leaking, Amy, Darryl, Amelia, etc. He worries about my health. He worries about growing old. (We are going to continue to work on that little flaw.)
Now, personally, I don't think I deserve this man but I thank God every day for him. There is a poem by Robert Browning that I have liked for many years. It's a long poem and I admit I don't understand all of it but I do like the first part which says:
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith "A whole I planned,
Happy Valentine's Day, Bubba!
I'm glad you're mine.
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