Our life 2

Jonathan loved to fish. Jonathan would have fished every single day if it were up to him. Again, he loved me so much that he would ask, “Is it alright if I go fishing tomorrow with so and so?” His friends thought he was crazy to have to talk to me about it, but Jonathan and I knew that this kind of respect is what keeps a marriage together. Anytime I had something to do, I would always ask him if it was alright or if he wanted to come along. Jonathan knew that during the winter months, even though he didn’t have a lot of work, he still wanted to accomplish things that needed to be done at home; errands etc. and “make momma happy.” Pat Dorsey calls his wife, Kim, “momma,” and rightly so because she is a mom. At first it was weird that Jonathan started to call me momma, but then it just kind of stuck, and so it was.

Jonathan had many other nicknames for me: Babe, Bainsh, Buns, Baines, Pumpens, Wimfum, Wimfin, and Bean. We had our own kind of unusual language. For instance, when I was in San Francisco recently, he sent me a text that said: Bainsh in fransumsifsco. Luv u banish! Pupum with daddy. Pupum is referring to Drake. Drake and Jonathan were inseparable. Jonathan would run errands and Drake would always ride in the truck with ‘Daddy.’ Drake is so good in the car because of this. He would wait an hour in the car while Jonathan went grocery shopping or something else. When I would question whether it would be better to just leave Drake at home for an hour, Jonathan would always say, “don’t you think Drake would rather go in the car and wait for me to come back than wait at home?” I couldn’t argue with that. When we got Drake is when we started to refer to ourselves as mommy and daddy. This past summer, Jonathan would often get home late from a guide trip and as he pulled up to the house, I would say, “Daddy’s home!” Drake would run to the front window, put his paws up on the window sill and look out. He was so excited. In the winter months when Jonathan was at home and I would come home from work, he would say, “Mommy’s home!” Drake would run to the front window and do the same. It was so cute.

Drake and the cats were usually fed by the time I got home. Jonathan met me at the front door every single day, gave me a kiss and would ask, “How was your day?” and “When do you want to eat?” Jonathan was the most caring, sensitive, and wonderful man. He was my best friend. He was grateful to me that I have a job that I like, and I would handle all the bills, finances and I was grateful to him that he loved to cook and did all the ‘manly’ things around the house. Our house was built in 1974. My mom and dad came to stay with us a few years ago and helped us finish our basement. When that was done, Jonathan and I decided to fix up the bathroom on the main floor. We ripped everything out down to the studs and started over. Jonathan tiled the landing going down to the basement; he tiled the bathroom floor, put in the walls around the tub, the new tub, the vanity, a new low-flow toilet, and helped me paint the walls. He was ready to tile the tub area, but all the tiles we found that we liked were really expensive and I could not decide on whether or not we should buy the ones we want or settle for something just as nice but less expensive. We never got to tiling around the tub before the accident, but the bathroom still looks so nice. I think of Jonathan every time I step foot in that bathroom.

Jonathan and I ate organic food and bought ‘natural’ soaps, dish soap, laundry soap, shampoo, etc. Jonathan’s favorite bar soap was called Chandraka. It was $.99 at whole foods. Jonathan called it “Chandraka King.” For awhile, Jonathan and I tried using ‘natural’ deodorants. This didn’t work out so well. None of the natural deodorants we found were anti-perspirants so Jonathan and I were sweaty and stinky all the time. We did this for about two months before we realized that it just wasn’t working and we felt bad for all the people around us. Maybe someday I’ll find one that works!