Just to avoid confusion...

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It occurred to me that my reader might think that Julie (AKA Aviva) in the post below was my wife or sister or something.

She was, in fact, not related to me, not even by marriage.  She was, however, the woman I courted for 15 years (yes, she made that much of an impression on me) before I met my wife Sally.  She passed away on Tuesday night from complications from renal failure that was in turn the result of an advanced case of systemic lupus erythematosus, or just "lupus" to the general public.  I think she was diagnosed sometime between 1991 and 1993.  She had been in a nursing home for close to two years and suffered quite a bit from pain and general deterioration of her body's systems.

She was 57 years old, divorced, two great sons that I would have been proud to call my stepsons, and in one of the usual Jewish communal entanglements found in small Jewish communities, had been married into a family that my wife grew up with and which includes my real estate agent (her ex-husband) and my dentist and my auto mechanic (her ex-brothers in law) -- all of whom are also members of my Lodge.*  My wife, in point of fact, attended Julie's wedding many years ago, and I met Julie right about the time her divorce was finalized.

I am not going to say a lot about her because I have family members who read this blog and there are some things I don't really want to talk about since I am married, Julie is gone now, and I don't see any reason to bring up ancient history.  Suffice it to say that I never really stopped loving Julie, and about ten years ago Julie admitted that if Sally hadn't shown up when she did, things might have been different between us.  I take that with a grain of salt because at the time she told me that, I had no intention of following up on it (and never did after, either; I love my wife), she was getting ready to leave for Israel for what she thought was going to be for good, and at times like that sometimes you say things to make people feel better and remember you more fondly.

So the upshot of the story is, I could be a widower today, but apparently the good Lord had different plans for the both of us.

_________________

* I raised the ex-husband as a Master Mason, and presided over the raising of his brother the dentist.  The other brother was already a Mason and transferred in from another lodge.  Their late father was also a Mason.

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