A Good Man....

Mr. Jim died on Wednesday. Mr. Jim and Miss Carolyn have lived next door to my parents for 35 years. I grew up with Lynne, Bryan, and Phil. I remember Mr. Jim in his khaki work clothes in the garden at all hours. Workboots, a tool, a tiller, sometimes a hat. A friendly competition over the fence between he and my daddy. The biggest tomatoes, the most plentiful green beans, the most beautiful roses.....always roses. I think the story went that the rose garden was Miss Carolyn's but it was Mr. Jim who tended them. He was a gentle man, a true gentleman in every sense of the word and will be missed by many.

At the visitation, Lynne and I caught up for a few minutes. I remember playing Barbies, pretending we were Southern Belles, making playhouses in the woods. But what I remember most are the Cinderella dreams we shared. I know I always wished for the storybook life with the happily ever afters. The ending with the prince, the white horse, the castle and the sunset. I hope she found hers even if mine has escaped me.