Husband, Father, Friend

By Jack Meyer

Life is a journey. Its path is covered with some smooth surfaces, some bumps, some steep hills and crevasses. Journeys can be lovely or they can be harsh and bitter. What you hold in your hand describes things of my journey. This is not a book in the real sense of the word. It is a series of stories and essays, some of which, I originally intended to simply print on plain paper, staple together, and give to my sons, as a legacy, of sorts.
Within these pages, you will meet me as COMMA MAN. You will meet my family and my friends, including my special friend, Bargebottom. This is a collection of the ups and downs, the ins and the outs of a long life, written by a grateful man. Should you decide to leaf through these pages, you may even find a bit of your story here, too

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543445510

Jack Meyer

Jack Meyer is an unaffiliated freelance writer living in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His prior works include The Odyssey of the Western Spirit: From Scarcity to Abundance and Alcibiades: A Play in Three Acts.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Jack Meyer.

Library of Congress Control Number:         2017912467

ISBN:                  Hardcover                978-1-5434-4408-7

                            Softcover                  978-1-5434-4409-4

                            eBook                        978-1-5434-4551-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 10/06/2017

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CONTENTS

Introduction

Husband

I Am Janet’s Husband 53 Plus Years

Janet My Love—Janet My Wife

Janet

Sweetheart

Father

Father A special note to my sons

Friend

Friends 1995

A Toast To Fifty Beautiful Years July 25, 1959—July 25, 2009

Roy

Mom and Dad

Dad 1894—1970

My Mom 1895—1970

A Special Letter to Mom and Dad

My Family

The Toy Box A Gift To Be Remembered

Epilogue 2005

Our 50th Wedding Anniversary

Sons

Nicole

To my Beautiful Granddaughter, Nicole, On the Occasion of Your High School Graduation

The Little Red Truck

Tidings

Christmas Gifts From A Loving God By Jack Meyer

1997: The Year Of Jesus Jesus, A Man To Follow By Jack Meyer

Random Acts Of Kindness By Jack Meyer

My Prayer

Hands By Jack Meyer

A Letter From My Son, Jeff Upon Reading My Article, Hands

Overcoming Our Shadows Sept. 1994 By Jack Meyer

Reaching Out To Those In Great Need March, 1996 By Jack Meyer

Rolling Back The Stone By Jack Meyer

The Monarch And The Easter Lily By Jack Meyer

The Princess And The Mother By Jack Meyer October 6, 1997

Reflections

The Looking Back Syndrome

A Fall Sunday

Writing to Save the Day By Fr. Henri Nouwen

Ahh—Nostalgia

An Old Man’s Thoughts To My Family. November 2011

A Time To Be A Mover

A Time To Be Moved

Choices And Awakenings

Grampa And The Prisoners A Story For Nicole And For All

Miracles

My Dad, when I was—-—

My Faith

Positives

Rejection

Repackaging

Things I Remember

Final Words

Final Words

To my sons, John, Chris and Jeff.

To my grandchildren, Nicole, Derek, Anthony, Adam, Jack and David.

To my great grandson, William.

To all my teachers, priests and sisters.

To my daughters-in-law Andrea and Kim

And to my very special friends.

I have discovered so very much of my life

through the gift of your lives.

Thank you

INTRODUCTION

My wife, Janet, and I were invited to visit with long time friends, Bob and Bev, who were vacationing on Marco Island, which is off the southern coast of Florida. We go way back with Bob and Bev to when we were young couples living in Brentwood, Long Island. Can’t get away from those islands, can we?

On a beautiful sunny morning, we were gathered on their deck, enjoying coffee, each other and the wonderful view of the azure Gulf of Mexico. Our discussion that morning, focused on a book that Bev was having published. I mentioned that I had written a number of articles that had been published in our New Hampshire diocesan news paper, TIDINGS. I told Bob and Bev that I had hopes of putting them into a booklet, just for my family; maybe to leave it as a legacy for my sons. Bev asked to read some of them and I sent her a few after I returned home. She liked what I had written and encouraged me to follow her into the world of self publishing. I did that, and you are now holding the results. However, time, like an invisible thief steals up on us, and suddenly, those past years lie heavily on our shoulders. It has been about seven years since that time at Marco Island with Bob and Bev. It’s been about twenty five years since the first articles were submitted and published in TIDINGS. You are correct if you are perceiving me as a procrastinator. I also am not a professional writer. I am simply a man whose imagination and thoughts sometime call for expression. I’ve been known to get out of bed, in the wee small hours of the morning, and begin scribbling my wakeup thoughts. If you decide to read on, you will encounter some of those thoughts.

Writing from time to time, as I do, has helped me to touch upon those deeper sentiments, that hide in my heart. They cause me to reflect on my experiences, and the emotions, that bubble up. Writing has helped me to sort out frustrating issues, relive happy moments and to chuckle at the humorous events of my day and my past life. I am not a saintly person but I am a strong believer in God our Father, in Jesus His son and the gift of life that all we readers and writers enjoy. So, you will encounter a few thoughts of a spiritual nature, because they are a part of me.

The title, of this little booklet, HUSBAND, FATHER, FRIEND, depicts the three most important phases of my life. Each of those important phases has become a small chapter within these pages. They represent, after all, the most important chapters of my life. There are other sections that contain published articles from TIDINGS. Another chapter, covers little tidbits of my family and yet another is a collection of musings that came to mind at various times of day or night. They just happened. Each, I suppose, contains tip offs about who the real Jack Meyer is and how I embrace my family, my friends and some wonderful gifts of life.

Putting these articles together has been a journey. Since the early 1990’s, when I was first asked to write for the diocese, until now, there have been a few twists, turns and bumps in our family. Giving up this project is a notion that occurred to me more than once during this journey. I think that’s true because I realized that strangers might be reading "my stuff"—reading me, and doing private critiques of me that I’ll never know about. That might not be a biggie for some folks, especially polished writers, but for a sensitive amateur, like me, it’s scary. I am also not very good at grammar, and this publishing company does not do editing for the basic fee that I’m paying. I am, jokingly, referred to as COMMA MAN because of all the misplaced, added and omitted commas. I hope you are not tripped up by these crevasses of terrible grammar and misspelled words.

The story, THE TOY BOX, which you will find in the chapter called MY FAMILY, was conceived and written while I was refinishing a toy box for my grandson, Jack. Jack is named after me, his very proud grandfather. The toy box was made for me by my father way back when I was a toddler in 1939. If you read the story, you’ll learn the complete history of this cherished, family artifact.

This page, INTRODUCTION, has held me back too. I just didn’t know what to write as an opener. This is not a novel or even a biography. It’s merely a collection of stuff that fell out of my heart and head over a long period of time. I know that’s a simplistic explanation, but it’s also plain, honest truth. If you care to read on, I hope more than anything else, that you find truth, value and meaning in these lines, and even in between them. If something makes you laugh or touches your heart, and brings you a little joy, please know that I am supremely grateful.

Thanks for opening these pages.

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Husband

SEPTEMBER 7,1963

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I Am Janet’s Husband 53 Plus Years

Before I was married, the word husband held only minor significance for me. I don’t mean that I discounted it but it was just a word that married men were called. Have you ever considered what that simple word husband means? What it really means? You probably have but as for me I don’t think I quite understood the depth of it; not even when I was a young husband. Now that I’ve been a husband for more than fifty years, I believe that I’ve earned the right to speculate a bit.

On my wedding day, my Best Man gave me this advice. His name was Ray, and he said: I guess you’ve heard that marriage is a 50 / 50 deal—-—but it’s not. It’s a 100 / 100 deal. If it’s going to work, you both have to give 100% of yourself. He was 100% correct. Marriage calls a person to be selfless, and not just 50% of the time. Hard to do? Of course, it sure was for me. Over the years, though, I discovered how necessary it is for a happy marriage. Did I accomplish that? Did I give my 100%? I guess if I was to make a check list of yes’s and no’s, I’d have more yes’s checked because after 50 years of trial and error, you can still find me with my one and only bride. I’m not saying I’ve