So apparently, April isn't just a month for one observance. There are many. To name a few: World Autism Awareness Month; National Pet Month; Stress Awareness Month; Sexual Assault Awareness Month; Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month; National Pet Month and Couple Appreciation Month, but there are many more.

I will pick "Couple Appreciation Month", because it is my 48th Anniversary this April and 50 years that I am coupled with my wonderful, loving husband, Patrick. I thank God each day for saving him from his horrible reaction to COVID and continue to pray everyday that he comes home to me soon. I was hoping it would be by my anniversary, but as long as he is safe and continues to get well, I will be patient and wait until God sees fit to send him home to me.

Here is just a bit about him and how we met. I was 17 and so was he, and we were both attending private high schools in Bronx, NY. We actually met when I was selected for a small part in his High School Play, "Take Me Along" (The movie stars Jackie Gleason and Walter Pidgeon,). He was one of the stage hands. If you'd like to see it. It is a fun musical.
Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqXtuCC6tQY for a clip, and https://youtu.be/cxvDywNzobE for the music from the entire play

I was actually not his first choice for a match and neither was he for me. In fact, we just became good friends. Well you know what they say, friends can very easily become lovers, so that is my story. We married when I was 19 and he had just turned 20. People said it would never last and we didn't know what we were doing, but we definitely did !

So here I am, 50 years later and still madly in love with him. :couple: I have two wonderful children, girls, two loving son-in-laws who both joined the service (one Army and one Navy), and three beautiful granddaughters.

Wow Pat, this is truly a beautiful love story. Congratulations to the both of you and family on celebrating 50 years loving each other. I can sense just how deeply you love him and how he must feel about you too. My heart tells me that the love you both share is enduring thus these challenging times will soon turn. My family and I are holding you both in our prayers. Thank you so much for initiating such an awesome topic this month and sharing a most inspirational story. Can you please share one secret that both young or mature marriages today could benefit from on their journey? Thank you so very much Pat.
Lovelyne

Hi Lovelyne,

Well, all I can say is that "communication" and "a willingness to forgive" is what I believe to be the keys to a long lasting, loving marriage. Often, we find that our partners are quick to get angry with those they love because they know that love is forgiving. I feel this even more now that my husband has been sick. He is super courteous to all the medical and nursing staff that care for him and then when I come in, he gets angry and tells me everything he doesn't like. However, he still says that he loves me and I know that the anger is not really aimed at me, but I am the only one he feels comfortable enough with to let his true feelings surface.

He is most likely coming home in a week or so, and although I know we have a lot of work ahead of us, I also know that our love will get us through it. :two_hearts:

Thank you so much for this great response Pat.
Lovelyne

During these extremely emotionally painful and strenuous times, I chose to focus on April’s national month of Hope. A few days ago, I called my son from my room to discuss a few things and turned on the television only to view a child with his hands raised being fatally shot by a police officer. The young man was 13 years old. He was a few years older than little Tamir Rice. My baby is 16 years old and understand some of the way that things work in this country, I instructed him to return to his room because I did not want him to witness his mother crumbling to the ground in agony. In the same week, a capitol officer was laid to rest in the rotunda, succumbed to injuries while protecting his country. His wife and school age children in unimaginable pain. Another mass shooting you say, why sure, let's add that too. Eight precious lives taken away while simply doing their jobs. The ages ranged from 19 to 75. Suicide is on the rise, particularly among children and teenagers. Parents continue to keep children inside their homes, even as COVID restrictions are being lifted. This is due to the fear of gun violence while playing outside of their homes.
All of this is happening during a pandemic. While there has been a lot of great acts displayed by humanity during this time, the few that I have discussed so far are heartbreaking. Next month, this country will celebrate Mother’s Day, followed by Father’s Day. I HOPE that these special occasions will not be observed while kneeling over a tombstone. Who am I kidding, if horror stories involving the massacre of 20 little kindergarteners/school teachers and the shooting of a little boy playing with a toy gun alone in a park fell on deaf ears (political leaders), why should I believe that anything will change? Nobody knows what the future holds but the one thing we can be sure of is that without hope, the war of humans on humanity has just begun. The issues of race, hate, gun violence, suicide, poverty and racial bias must be addressed in the nursing community. The mere acknowledgement or constructive criticism of an ailment among certain sectors in our society is not congruent to a lack of patriotism but rather leadership. Chemotherapy is to cancer what hope plus action is to hate. Hate is costly but love is free, free for all of us.
Be safe, be kind and be present.
Lovelyne