In late August, Joyce and I returned from a vacation
at Disneyland and Oceanside with our kids and grandson. We had a great time
while I did research for my third Rick Cantelli, P.I. novel, titled Into the
Darkness. We visited The Nite Owl bar with our kids, where Cantelli hangs out
in my novels. It was a wonderful trip, but we loved being home again.
A couple days later, Joyce saw blood in her urine
with stabbing pains. An emergency room visit later with tests revealed Renal
Cell Carcinoma in her left kidney. It shot through her before it could be
halted or adequately treated, finally reaching her brain in this past week,
stealing away what little mobility she had. She and I had just spent eight days
and nights in the hospital with the inevitable torturous journey into our own
darkness; but with silly humor, prayer, and holding her in my arms. We shared
every moment together in these months past. I had closed my auto shop. Thank
God my writing allowed me to do so. She needed me with her, and I needed her
more than life itself. I brought her home. Joyce died in my arms on Monday
night with her Mom, sisters, and our kids with me.
I wrote this for her on our 37th wedding
anniversary this past January. She said it was her favorite one I had done for
her.
We
don’t talk about love, because we own love.
We
don’t turn from trouble, because we own trouble
We
don’t need life examples - we are life examples.
We
don’t measure our success – we simply succeed.
We
don’t seek others’ blessings – we count our own.
We
don’t demand respect from others – we earn it.
We
don’t cry when denied respect – we settle for fear.
When
one of us needs help, we know who’ll be at our side.
When
we’re in danger, we know who’ll bring the shotgun.
When
danger ends, we know who’ll be at our side burying it.
We
don’t waste precious moments trying to turn back time.
We
spend what time we have left making precious moments.
Our
kids don’t look for backup, because we are backup.
Our
friends wonder how we’re still together – we don’t.
I
love you with all my heart. Happy Anniversary!
My
partner, Joyce Lynn Whitney DeLeo passed on to the Lord on October 13th,
2014. Through the decades we spent together - from the time she stopped me at
the Grants store in Warren, Ohio when she was sixteen in 1968, and said, ‘Hi, I’m
Joyce Whitney. I live up the street from you’, she had me from that moment on.
When trouble and hard times visited us over our many years together, I could
count on one thing: when everyone else ran in fear – at my side would be Joyce,
fists up, and game face on, feet dug in next to me. I needed nothing else. She
is here with me still. My brothers and sisters rightly labeled her Saint Joyce,
because she put up with me through the years. Amen to that.
