March 13th 2017

David, today, would have been your 76th Birthday.

I couldn’t wait to give you your humorous Birthday Cards; just so I could watch you laugh and catch the twinkle in your eye. Since you hated celebrating your birthdays, this little ritual would be one of my best parts of your day’s celebration. Later in the evening we’d go out to dinner with friends or family, a ritual David really enjoyed. He cherished his time with family and friends.

You always got up earlier than me, and I’d track you down in the basement sitting in front of you computer absorbed in your work. I’d blow into the computer room with a rush of energy, sit on the counter where you couldn’t ignore me until you finished reading or typing your work.

Good Morning greetings and Happy Birthday kisses exchanged, I would award you your birthday cards, mine first, and then any others that had arrived in the mail. Sometimes we’d chat for a bit or you’d be in a hurry to finish your work. But at one point, you’d always come upstairs and sit with me while I ate my breakfast.

Sitting with you in the mornings, listening to you talk, sharing your thoughts and ideas, and often summaries or analysis of ideas that were on your mind was the highlight of my day and not just on your birthday. The variety of subjects and topics you were interested in and the depth of your knowledge in them always fascinated me. I always learned something from every conversation we had. I truly miss our conversations and I miss you!

David’s mental curiosity gave him a voracious appetite for information and he routinely searched daily from a variety of sources, the Internet, friends, acquaintances, business associates, and professionals; books, magazines, and specific TV Shows both political and documentary. His mind was constantly sifting through the data he read, always analyzing the information he was receiving, he reminded me of the computers he loved.. He was the most well-read, well-informed, well-rounded person, I knew, and consequently the most interesting. Despite his wealth of knowledge and experience, he was a humble man who listened first to others and only shared his knowledge when he felt it was needed.

I would hear something disturbing in the news and be upset, or worried by world events; or politics and after listening to David’s analysis of the stories, I always felt less anxious about the world’s problems.

David made me feel safe and well cared for, I never worried about anything, knowing David would be knowledgeable enough to handle what ever crisis came our way. We looked forward to growing old together and I looked forward to watching him enjoy our future grandchildren. He would have loved to teach, tease, and share his knowledge and sense of humor with them.

David was one of a kind, a person who never judges another, just accepts them at face value. I fell in love with him as soon as I met him, and valued his generosity of spirit and his wonderful sense of humor.

I didn’t realize how lucky I was until he was gone. We had 39 wonderful years of marriage together; I never dreamed he would leave me so suddenly. Losing David was a shock to my whole world. I don’t feel safe anymore. My rock of security and peace are gone, along with my confidant and my wellspring of knowledge of the world. It’s been an incredibly rough year without you, David.

Happy Birthday, darling, I hope you are sharing your day with your wonderful parents. I’ll spend your day trying not to cry through all our saved exchanged birthday cards. I will read my favorite ones today to remember you.

David, I will love you forever,

Donna