Late 70's in Phoenix AZ

I was going to wait until tomorrow to compose myself and tell you about some of the many memories i have of Kath and I, but darn it....reading your words Lenny, got me flowing tears again, and I thought...write something, for godssake...NOW...you can always add more later.....It's just that I always thought there would be a later....
I met Kath in Ibiza also.....and we fast became friends, being Northern gals and all.....there were quite a few of us, and we did everything together...In our time we were tour-guides, photographers, and barmaids, and there was always, always laughter!  And kath always had a better tan than everyone else.  Even though we hadn't seen each other for many years, the memories of those sunfilled days have stayed.  
One memory is of Kath and I in Morocco....we travelled all the way inland to Rabat in search of a couple of sheepskin coats that were all the rage...
We managed to barter and thought we'd come up with a great deal until the realisation later hit that the wool was so thick on the inside we could hardly get our arms through the sleeves....no problem says Kath and we got to work shearing some of the wool off....I say some, but when we left the hotel the next day we left behind a mound that could have easily knitted up a dozen sweaters.  We were so proud of those coats, long and white (well until the dirt that is) and we didn't want to admit it but they had a strange smell and were as stiff as a board....i often wonder if they were long haired albino camels!  
Oh Kath....I do have some wonderful memories of our adventures and talks over the years even though we were miles apart.  You and Lenny were made for each other and not everyone gets to love as you two....it's your laughter and sense of fun I shall miss....I've become all too serious in my pensioner years.....perhaps it's time to go looking for another camelskin.
I am in Spain at the moment and will have to post the photos another time.
Your spirit lives on,
xxxPauline

 

My sweet Kathleen,

            I write these words not so much for you, for I know you no longer have need of words, but for those who may pass by and pause to read them, so that they would know how much I have loved you and that I love you still. You have been the source of my strength and the fuel for the fire that has burned within me. You have made me more, so much more than I otherwise would have been and now, without you, I am so very much less than I was. My dear, most wonderful, most excellent wife, my absolute best friend, you have loved me, cared for me and taught me so much. Being loved by you and being allowed to love you in return has been the greatest privilege of my life.

            But now I have lost you and my heart is broken. I know I will live on for the time that I have left and both happiness and sorrow still await me, but behind every smile and every tear yet to come will be thoughts of you...and the world for me, from this time onward, will be an emptier, lonelier place, now that you no longer cast your shadow on this earth.

            Good bye my love, my little Yorkshire Rose, safe journey. I will forever love you and I will forever miss you, my sweet Kathleen.

Your loving husband,
Your Lenny

Just look at my little wife in this picture. I had seen that jesture so many times. Whether sitting at the kitchen table, the patio table outside or in the jacuzzi, this was Kathy's jesture of welcome. This was her way of telling who ever just stepped up to the edge,  " Come on in, the soup is fine! "