Another WWII vet and dear friend dies

My cousins husband died, what a beautiful man Gordon was he came back from the war and fell in love with Pat and they lived the good life, loving and working together they raised a wonderful family of boys. His passing started me thinking about the circle of life:
Our lives fly by so fast it is hard to savor the days we spent with loved ones. I realized we are not just ordinary women. We come from a family of women who were exceptional and they taught us how to love and be proud they gave us a dignity that not everyone had the privilege to receive. We had wonderful parents but it was our mothers and their influence that shaped our lives.
It is amazing how fast life changes, we start out as little girls at our mothers apron strings content to play with our dolls and making mud pies, as we grew our mothers took charge of our education, they taught us the meaning of being a young lady and they taught us how to be a woman... They taught decorum and manners, how to stand up straight, and to understand the ways of the world... Our mother's prepared us for womanhood in their gentle way with out really telling us anything, they taught how to keep a clean house and tend the garden, to do your nails and hair to take pride in our appearance. Cooking was an important lesson they prepared us to be wives and mothers, to live upright lives and the importance of honesty and integrity and most of all they gave us love and taught us how to love and the importance of loyalty. They stood by as our lives began and we always felt safe and loved because of them. My mother has been gone almost forty years and yet, I feel my mother’s presence; her spirit is always with me.
We have changed from being those little girls growing up with our mothers, and how fortunate we were to come from such lovely ladies they were good gentle people. They got us thru those awkward teenage years and then the courting began and the young hopefuls came a calling.
For Pat it was Gordon; a handsome young man, just back from a long and terrible war and he was ready to settle down and saw her and fell in love, he was a lovyal and loving husband for over sixty years.
As young brides, our lives really changed; we were in love and thought we knew it all that is when the real lessons in life began. We were in charge of our own destiny so with our young men we walked into the future. Those first years of marriage were fun and trying; then the babies came. Our mothers circled around and stood ready to help with lessons and stories of their time with newborn babes.
Once the babies came, life went in to warp speed those busy years went by so fast, there were difficulties, with each one a new lesson learned. We became stronger woman who could manage anything that came our way. We became the teachers. Our children grew so fast, they leaned on us to answer their questions, and they needed us to teach them, they needed our guidance. It is funny how short that time really was. Our children leaped into life, it was not long, they became young adults, and one by one, they left home…
About that time our parents passed. No longer children we became the older generation. The tools to raise our children came from our strong upbringing and our guidance made our children strong and able to stand on their own two feet. We taught them to be independent and self-sufficient we became our mothers.
Time passed so fast, they call it the empty nest syndrome it is just another bump in our road and we changed again this time we rekindle our love and started a new life as empty Nester's…
A new happiness would be ours, being a grandparent. Grandchildren are the frosting on our cake of life. oh how wonderful to watch them grow, when our children were young we were so busy we were not able to giggle and play with them like you can with grandchildren, oh my I do love my grand children.
Life settles into a softer slower speed, and we grow into retirement, these years are warm and comfortable with family and friends life is sweet.
Our minds still sharp but our bodies begin to warble and change comes to each of us.
Because of the things, our mothers taught us and what we passed on to our children our walk into old age will not be lonely. Our families will circle around us and we will lean on them. They will stand with us through the remainder of our lives because we taught them how to love and honor family...With Gordon's passing the circle changes yet remains steady this is about the full circle of life we all hold on but the choices are ours the lessons we take to heart shape our lives. Gordon and Pat's lives represent their parents teaching they set a fine example and so did Pat and Gordon they established a wonderful family and Pat will be protected and loved as the circle of life goes on..