That time is coming. The Anniversary of Jim going to Heaven to be with Jesus.
It has been on my mind, and then yesterday, Elayne asked everybody to write her a tribute to the famous Minich Family Dining Room Table that they are inheriting and refurbishing from Ed and Lois.
You know, nearly every memory I have of Minichs includes Jim. The first time I ever met Jim we sat at that table and played "sort of" played Spades. He was my teacher for the evening... I still can't figure out if he was really annoyed with me or just playing. :)
Jim showed up at our house in Texas one day with Cindy, before He and Cindy got married so he could introduce her to us on the way to a friend's wedding. I always thought that was so cute.
Then there were the endless water ski camping trips where I was the camp cook. :)
Then, there was the famous "get his car fixed" trip he made to Texas 5 years ago. He ran into his Mailbox and came down to get a good job done cheap. He paid for the finished job, we took him to dinner and while we were gone a major hail storm totaled his famous Hemi Truck.
He got a better one. :)
The last ski trip we went on was great. Even Lois went, which is unusual for Lois, but it was meant to be. Lots of us together... enjoyed the wonderful day. On the Way home from that trip, it was announced that Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) had died in a freak accident. I was so sad for his wife and children; he was such a great and active father and his children were so young.
Then, the next thing we knew, Jim was sick. He had come down ill over the holidays with some sort of flu, and didn't feel better. By February, he was in the hospital with Leukemia.
LEUKEMIA? JIM? But it was true.
We went to see him and held his hand and at the last minute made a decision to let the girls go in and tell him they loved him. I am so thankful that we did that.
Less than 2 weeks later, Jim had a complication from the Chemo that caused a pulmonary embolism (?) and he was in intensive care. We got a call to COME, and we came. On the way up to Tulsa, we had our cell phone on and sang hymns and chorusus with our other family members and prayed for Jim. When we got there, he had stabalized. After staying a few days we went back home. It was such an empty feeling. We wanted to be there, but had responsibilites here. Being so far away really stinks. Then after 6 more weeks our Sweet Jim, quietly slipped into eternity. We left for Tulsa once again, this time, for our dear brother's funeral.
And as we drove home once again, I thought about what a great Husband and Father he was to Cindy and Emily.
It sounds silly, but I also thought about the Irwin's once again. (I always admired them) I was comforted by how they had begun to pick up the pieces of their lives after such a tragic loss, and knew that Cindy and Emily would do the same.
Jim left us with so many great memories. Every time we pass a lake, we cannot pass it, without thinking about Jim; we cannot see a "Hemi", without thinking of Jim and I cannot go to Red Lobster without thinking of Silly Jim sitting there with a bunch of plastic beaded necklaces he conned off of the waitress to take home to Emily.
If you are reading this and have brothers and sisters, don't forget to tell them how much you love them.
It may be the last chance you have, until we meet again.
If you go to my side bar and scroll down to "Fellow Family Bloggers", there is a Tribute to Jim. A youtube slide show.
