"E" Leeza "Beth" This is my Birthday Present To You

One of the most favorite people in my life is "Elizabeth". She pronounces it just like I wrote it in the title of this blog. She is a SOUTHERN woman through and through...MY KINDA GAL!! She was my father's companion, friend and love in his last days. I love her dearly, call her not enough, but when I do... she responds with all the love in her heart, and never gives me grief for not calling sooner. My kids all think of her as their grandmother.....and I don't think she would want it any other way.

She may be in her eighties (I hope you are...Cin told me you were but I found it hard to believe) , but she is sharp as a tack, on top of her game and someone that I love

My Dad was pretty smart. He knew once my MOM died, she would never, ever be replaced. But after almost a quarter of a decade went by, he settled into a wonderful and comfortable life with his choice..."ELIZABETH".

They were friends, they were fellow Christians and they were in love. It seems strange to me to call them lovers but they were...they were in love . I KNOW that my Dad loved her , she was an intimate part of his being, and a soul mate...something he never thought he would ever find after my Mother died.

She came to know all of us ..love all of us and wormed her way easily into all of our lives. I sometimes think that she may miss him more than us, and that breaks my heart because I know how much I miss him and if it hurts her more...it must be almost unbearable for her.

But we try to still include her..NO, not try, but WANT to include her in our lives. She is the last thing that we have to connect us on this Earth with our Dad (DIDDY) as we called him and always will.

She sat at the hospital for almost ten days as we all did, waiting for my "Diddy" to get better...which unfortunately he did not. But we stuck it through, we laughed, we cried, we remembered and we hoped.

I almost feel that she suffered a loss greater than we did.

I feel it a great honor to have her call me a friend... for my kids to call her a grandparent, and for her not ever being upset that I have taken too long to call and check on her, but to always be happy to receive my call and for her loving me the way I know my "Diddy" knew she always would .

You are stuck with us, Elizabeth, you are one of us, and my "DIDDY" would want it no other way. He knew what he was doing when he brought you into our family...he was keeping the love that he had given us as children alive, he was giving you to us...and what a gift you have been.