“Everyone must leave something behind, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched in some way so your memory has somewhere to live when you’re gone, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.

It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” _Ray Bradbury

We’re celebrating thirty-seven years of marriage this coming summer, and I’ve been thinking about all of the ways in which this extraordinary man—my soul-mate and the love of my life—has touched these years.

We had only been together a short time when, one night as I was fixing dinner, I heard a resounding crash from our family room. Running to see what happened, I was greeted with a huge hole in the wall between the guest bedroom and the family room. “I thought we needed more space in here.” He laughed.  That project was only the first of many to follow. We’ve never left a house exactly the way we found it. Always making a difference…always leaving his style and improvements where we’ve lived Lately his touch has improved and beautified our tiny house making it quite charming…if I do say so myself.

It’s not possible to talk about the ways in which he has touched my life without including his touch in the lives of others. My immediate family (mother and son), our extended family (sons and daughters in The Lord) and hundreds of students throughout a remarkable teaching career spanning four decades, have been touched, and changed, encouraged and challenged by his love and compassion.

I just wanted to say, Thank you! “The difference between a man who coasts through life, taking the path of least resistance, and a man who passionately follows his faith makes an impact that will last for a lifetime.”