Today we are here to remember my husband, Mel. Mel and I met, some may say, by chance, but I believe God's hand was in our relationship from the beginning. I had a neighbor who was very determined on marrying me off, and she did this by setting me up on many blind dates. Finally I told her no more. I've had enough, but Gloria wasn't done with me yet. She and her husband rode motorcycles and had stopped in a bar one day where they met a supposedly very nice bartender. She rushed home to tell me all about him and wanted to set us up on a date. I told her absolutely not, but Gloria was not a quitter and finally convinced me to at least exchange phone numbers with this guy who turned out to be Mel. After a few weeks of chatting on the phone, and man he could talk, my friend Ruth and I decided that unbeknownst to Mel we would casually drop in at his place of employment and have a refreshing beer on a hot afternoon. There was only one other person there, and he soon left. After about an hour I introduced myself to Mel. He always said he knew right away who I was, but that's only because he liked to be the one pulling the prank on someone.
We both knew fair quickly that we had something special. We had both had a few failed relationships in our past, and we just instinctively knew that we had something very different together, and I think it is because we became friends first. We had only known each other a few months when Mel asked me to marry him, and of course I said yes. I was on top of the world and more in love than I had ever been. Mel was absolutely the kindest man I had ever met. He was always very concerned about my feelings and was actually very romantic, which was a treat for me.
When we were married, Mel was the one who cried at our wedding, he cried when he found out we were having Nicole, he cried when Nicole was born, and he cried the first time he saw Daniel. He cried when he became a grandfather. He looked big and tough guy, but he was just a teddy bear in disguise. We had a wonderful life together and were truly blessed by the family we created together. The most important thing to Mel was his family, and he was very proud of all of us. The nicest compliment Mel ever paid me was after we had Nicole and he looked around and told me I love you both so much, I never thought this would be my life and I am so blessed.
The day we found out Mel had cancer, I told him our lives would never be the same again, and they weren't. Mel vowed from the beginning that he would conquer cancer because he couldn't bear to leave his family and the love we shared. At first his cancer responded very well to treatment but by the time they caught his cancer it was so aggressive that it spread very quickly. Still Mel stayed strong and fought for us. He always thought of the kids and me and wanted to stay with us. The last time he was in the hospital, and they told us the end was near we just held each other and cried. We knew we wanted him to be home, he was so desperately homesick for his family. We also knew that as long as there was a breath in his body there was time for God to perform a miracle. We both also knew that sometimes the miracle God has for healing is to take one of his children home, and that is what He did for Mel on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at approximately 10:40 a.m. while the kids and I were at church. I think he knew it would be too hard for us to watch him go, and that was his final gift of love to us.
There are so many people I need to thank who have walked this journey with us. First of all I want to thank our Lord and Savior that because of the shedding of his blood my children and I will spend eternity with Mel. I want to thank my parents for their unwavering support both financially and emotionally. I want to thank my sister who has been so supportive, even while fighting her own battle with cancer. I want to thank the Aragon family for their unwavering faith, their love, and for knowing probably better than anyone, what we have been going through, because they are going through many trials with Diego's health. I want to thank all the believers who stood shoulder to shoulder with us praying unceasingly for a miracle for our family. I would like to thank everyone who has called, sent a card, stopped by for a visit or who just thought of us in some kind way. A special thanks to Gary Davis, Mel's best friend, who called him nearly every day and brightened his life with his stories and the nonsense they shared together. My entire family has been awesome and has shown me how families get through things and that is by sticking together. I want to thank the best friend God has ever blessed me with Deanna Nezvensky. When Mel was first diagnosed with cancer, she promised me she would be there to get me through it, and she has. In thanking her, I need to thank her family for the sacrifices they made so that she could be with me. Several months ago, an angel came to our house to help us, Tiffany Reno. She has been there through our joys and sorrows, she has occupied my children when things were overwhelming, and she has brought sunshine to us when there was darkness. Most of all I want to thank her for being with my blessed husband when he took his last breath. It comforts me to know that he was with someone he loved and who loved him. Last, but most importantly of all I want to thank Mel for the best 14 years of my life and for having loved me just because of who I am not wanting me to ever change for anyone, not even him. When he would get really sick, he was always worried that he was a burden to me, but if I had it to do all over again, I would because it made me love him more. Until eternity my love.
| Melvin Emerson | |||||||||||||||||||||
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