valley views Don’t hold back “ Tell them you love them over and over again. Tell them too much, and never too little, for the time we have is short, but the love we have is endless.” - Dane Thomas
T
his week would have (should have) been my 35th wedding anniversary. I guess it is my 35th wedding anniversary. I’m still married, albeit without a husband. A widow (deep heavy sigh). He died shortly after our 33rd anniversary. But still, I remember, and I celebrate. No, I just remember. We’d planned to do something “big” on this anniversary. We never felt like we had the chance before. Fifteen, twenty, even twenty-five - we let them all pass us by. We were always too young, or too poor, or
Or so we thought. too busy raising kids to We thought we’d do spend the time or money something big this year. for anything for just the He’d always two of us. It seemed too promised to take me to extravagant. Jill Pertler Syndicated columnist Europe. But We took it could have lots of family been so many vacations, but they were planned around things: a long weekend in Las Vegas, a trip to a seour four kids. cluded cabin in the mounWe always spent time tains, the beach. Anything together, but it typically - something. It didn’t involved practices, games matter what. It would be or performances (of the a rare splurge on just the childhood variety). We two of us. spent many weekends Instead, now, it’s just away from home in hotels - for tournaments and su- me. And I have some pervising kids in the pool. advice. Don’t wait. Don’t wait. They were good years Don’t wait. building a family, raising Please. children. We were happy Don’t. Wait. to put special times for There are always logical just the two of us on hold reasons to wait. To put off because we had all of our the things you really want future for us as a couple. to do with your spouse We married young. We because you don’t have were young. There’d be enough money or time or plenty of time.
Slices of Life
A journey through a violin I
’m told my great-grandmother was a child protégé on the violin, one who graced prestigious stages with her music. However, about 80 years ago, her mother had her put down her violin for reasons no one fully understands and she never picked it up again. From that point on, her violin was handed down through my family. It was 10 - August 3, 2022
stored in different climates throughout dozens of moves and passed through several hands until it landed in mine. I received it wrapped in bubble wrap,
A Taylor’d Approach Taylor Davison
Editor, Valley Journal
preserved as well as could be managed, but crumbling under the weight of years. Its sides had separated from its body in several places, the wood occasionally
whatever you think you need to do all the things you want to do. Please take note of my circumstance. You never know when your own later may no longer exist. Take the trip. Go on the vacation. Fish for salmon in Alaska. Cruise the Mediterranean. Hula in Hawaii. Surf in South Africa. Volunteer in to build a school or a church. Go on safari. Visit a nude beach. Buy that hobby farm. Plan an extravagant night out on the town. Buy her the diamond. Get him those golf clubs. Do it now. My husband and I passed by anniversary number 30 and thought we had to wait until number 35 to celebrate something grand because 35 was the next big number. Take it from me: numbers don’t matter. Life
matters. Now matters. Celebrate now. Celebrate this year, next year and the year after. Heck, celebrate more often than that. Celebrate always. Every day. Unabashedly. Because, at the end of it all, not too many of us regret all the good and joyous things we did in life. We don’t regret the happy memories or songs we sang together. What we might regret, and often regret, are the spectacular things we didn’t do. Even the mundane things we didn’t get a chance to do. Those that we thought we’d get to – some day – but didn’t because time ran out My best advice? You never know when time will run out. So do it now. Experience to the fullest. Enjoy. Love. Create a memory worth keeping. Let your husband (or
cracked and warped. A peg was missing, another had crumbled within the scroll, and the two that remained held onto strings that were curled and broken. Its bridge was absent as well, letting the tailpiece rub and mar the wood, but the original chin rest made of cork remained. I certainly didn’t inherit my great-grandmother’s exceptional ability, but I
have played violin for most of my life. I’ve changed countless strings, swapped out several pieces; I can care for an instrument. But the care this delicate instrument so clearly needed? I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’ve worked in historical fields enough to know what big deals restoration and pres-
Valley Journal
see page 11
wife) take you to Europe. Make it spectacular. Let me know how it goes. I’m rooting for you. Jill Pertler is an award-winning syndicated columnist, published playwright and author. Don’t miss a slice; follow the Slices of Life page on Facebook.
LETTER POLICY
Letters to the editor are welcome. The content is the opinion of the letter writer and not the newspaper. The decision to publish letters is made by the editor. Letters must be 350 words or less. A writer will only be published twice per month. Letters may be edited for content or length, or may not be published if considered libelous, in poor taste, spiteful, self-promotional or of limited interest to the general readership. Space limitations also dictate when or if letters are published. Letters must be signed by the author and name, address and phone number must be included – phone number is for verification purposes only. Letters from organizations must include the name of at least one author. Please limit “thank you” letters to four people/organizations or less. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday to publish the following week. Opinions expressed in this section are not necessarily those of the newspaper.
