Bob and I met through a mutual friend, a neighbor and friend of mine who was also a good friend to Bob, too. Bob and I went to different High Schools, but our paths crossed through our mutual friend. Even before we began to date, we would "hang out" as friends...going to the mall together with a group of friends or high school sporting events. Our mutual friend, Jim was having a graduation party for his younger brother and we both were invited. We sat aside of one another...and that was it! I actually have a picture from that first real time we talked alone and got to know one another. I'll have to scan it in sometime. Well, from that point on, we dated and had an instant connection. He was such a gentleman, opening the car door for me, helping me with my coat, etc....he just swept me off my feet. Within 6 months we were engaged but waited 3 years to marry until he was out of college. We were married on 10/26/85 and this year we would have celebrated our silver anniversary. We had plans to renew our vows and even purchased silver bands to mark the occasion. Sadly, Bob didn't make it. It wasn't meant to be, I guess. I always thought we'd grow old together, raise Matt and watch him grow into a fine young man, have grandchildren, retire....we had DREAMS. The cancer didn't just take Bob, it took our dreams and our future, too. It's hard to imagine that life must go on, without the one person who made it worth the ride. Matt and I will miss his presence for the rest of our lives. They say you must "move on", but move on to what? How can you forget the person who shared your space with you, who you saw before you closed your eyes each night and the first person you saw every morning? I see him in our son's eyes, he DID exist and we owe it to him to remember him, honor him....appreciate the life he lived and the person he was. To do any thing else would be saying that the years he did live were not worth it nor did they have any meaning. SPEAK his name, TELL stories about him, THINK of him, PRAY for him and to him...just don't forget him. He was too wonderful of a man to not remember or continue to love. He knows and feels love wherever he is as love transcends death.