CHERYL LEE

 

Cheryl Lee, Cheryl Lee

I’ve got a girl named Cheryl Lee

Her hair is red and her lips are too

When she’s gone, I am O’ so blue

 

Cheryl, My Cheryl Lee

You’re the only girl for me

She told me No, and it changed to Yes

Nothing more and nothing less

 

O’ Cheryl, My Cheryl Lee

I truly love your southern tea

You make me laugh and you make me cry

I’ll love you Darlin’, till the day I die

The Happiest Man on Earth

 

It wasn't her first marriage and it wasn't mine either. I had four adult children and she had a fourteen year old daughter. We both had been down this road and we knew a lot about disappointments and failures. But we were really in love; whole-hearted, fully committed, undeniably attracted and determined to make it a successful adventure in our lives. Without question we were best friends and had total trust in each other. There really is nothing like planning to live the rest of your life with your BFF (Thought I'd throw that in for you millennials). We had both been single for several years and though I had been "keeping an eye out", I'm pretty sure that she wasn't looking.

Actually Cheryl was an answer to my prayers, literally. I had recently prayed through, took myself out of the equation and had totally "left it with God" to point me in the right direction. If you are not a believer, you should try it sometime, as we say "let go and let God". It didn't happen immediately and it didn't happen on my timetable. But when it happened, it happened as surely as Tiny Tim tip-toed through the tulips. We fell in love and everything shouted out to us that this was the real thing. And it still is.

Granny wasn't keen on losing Angela to a stranger that had just stepped into her daughter's life and I don't blame her. I had to earn the right to be deserving of her beautiful daughter and granddaughter. So, we waited for a few months and had an awkward courting period for a couple of forty-somethings. I think that when my daughter Amy sat in Santa's (Harold) lap at the family Christmas gathering and told him that all she wanted was for Daddy and Cheryl to get married, it broke the ice and cleared the way to proceed. I was ready, had been ready, I knew in my heart that she was the answer to my prayers. She needed to see that I would make a suitable father figure for her daughter. I reckon that I must have passed because shortly afterwards she accepted my engagement ring and we set the date for early June.

As a matter of fact it was June the 4th, my oldest son's birthday. We did the planning ourselves (no Fraanck) and many of our collective families advised they would be coming. We also had many friends and work associates who wanted to see us joined in Holy matrimony. Cheryl's brother John and David were ordained ministers so we asked John to preside over the ceremony and David to say a prayer. Our kids can all sing so we asked Angela, Amy and Mendy and David to sing and we picked out some of our favorite pieces of music to play. Cheryl and I wrote our own vows, we got an arch to put in Granny's backyard and we rented some chairs for everyone to sit in and a PA system to play the music. Cheryl baked her famous sour cream pound cake with strawberry layers in between and placed them on a three-tier wedding cake stand. Everybody had a part and they played it well.

This was the second time around for both of us so we had no fear of the proceedings. Even though it rained heavily in the morning; the sun popped out and all was dry by the time the ceremony started. Everything went perfectly as planned; the singing was beautiful, the music over the PA was perfectly timed, everyone was seated properly by Darren and Michael, a string quartet played Pachelbel's canon as I walked Cheryl from the staircase on the back of the deck, John and Dave presided over the ceremony, Cheryl and I recited our vows in view of God and man, and we exchanged rings to seal the deal. We had dinner for all, cut the delicious cake and shared it with our guests, and  then we played lots of vintage music from Beethoven to the Ink Spots. Most of us, including Taylor and Kristofer, danced in Granny's backyard. I became the happiest man on earth. After celebrating our twenty-fifth anniversary this year, I still am.



My beautiful bride waits for ceremony to start with Granny and Angela

THE WEDDING

Radiant bride prepares her Mom







Michael escorts Mama to her seat

Beautiful bride descends the staircase

I escort my bride to the alter

Angela sings her solo

The ceremony

Bouquet toss to unmarried ladies

Cut the cake

Eat the cake

THE PROGRAM

 THE VOWS

THE PROOF

THE FAMILY GROUP PHOTOS

Cheryl's immediate family

My immediate family

Me and my bros Mike and Ted

Cheryl's extended family

My extended family

Three generations of Cheryl and her cousins

Granny's brothers and sisters



My work team from AT&T

THE AFTER WEDDING DINNER SOCIAL

I think Granny was happy

Fay and Ted with Ralph and Betty

Sweet Amy with Mike and Cynthia

Chatting with Barbara, Betsy and John



How many folks have their grandchildren dance at their wedding?

Little angels, Taylor and Kristofer



Pooped out after dancing

Brothers wedding waltz

I think we're in love



The happiest man on the planet and his lovely lady (I think we're singing to each other)


HONEYMOON ON SANIBEL ISLAND

HOPE is the Key

                                                             HOPE IS THE KEY

Lord, thank You for those happy years, 

For watching o’er us in our fears, 

Thank You for the joy we shared,

And all the times You showed You cared .

In spite of every pain and tear,

We felt You ever close and near, 

For never were You far away, 

Just a silent prayer, both night or day.

When life’s short journey nears an end, 

When we can’t see around the bend, 

And though we fight the valiant fight, 

We know for sure the end’s in sight. 

We only trust what we have learned, 

We know Your word is never spurned, 

Our days are numbered that’s for sure 

Thank you for Your word that’s pure 

To lose a loved one You have given, 

To take them to their home in Heaven, 

Such sweet sorrow still breaks our heart, 

To lose the one, we would not part. 

 But in Your word we will endeavor, 

And hope with all our hearts forever, 

For Hope is the key to renew our love, 

To unite us again, when we meet above.

Written by David Warbritton in honor of my forever love, my sweet Cheryl

Romans 3:3-5

‘We can rejoice too when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance, and endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

It was a God Thing

 It Was a God Thing

Like a pair of cardinals who mate for life, like peanut butter and jelly, like two peas in the same pod, physically and spiritually united, we were inseparable by an invisible bond that will last for an eternity. She was the answer to my prayer and God eventually revealed it to her also. When we first met, I knew she was the one, but she wasn't looking for anyone and I was just an interesting new person to her,

God doesn't always reveal his direction to us at the same time, I had prayed through and cast myself at His mercy to help me find that soulmate whom I yearned for. She had stabilized her life and really saw no need to clutter it up with a serious relationship. She approached me cautiously and reservedly. We liked each other immediately, and since I had read the message from God that this was her, I had to wait for her to catch up.  

I don't know if you have experienced a love that fused your very soul together with another, but we did. Over time we became clones of each other, we thought alike, we acted and responded alike, we even finished each other's sentences. We were not perfect but we worked hard to live in perfect harmony. I have never experienced such  feelings of complete and utter joy as I did in her company. I have never felt the comfort and peace that she brought to me. 

We had much in common, our beliefs, our family values, our expectations of life, our trust in one another and our God. If true love is built on a rock solid foundation then ours was built on the largest chunk of granite that you can imagine. Our love was simple and at the same time it was enormous. She was the best friend I ever had. Dear God, I love this woman still, though my heart has a prodigous vacuum that her life filled, I will love her forever till my dying day.

Several times each day I ask her what she asked me every day of our life together, "Have I told you today that I love you". My heart is broken beyond repair, her sweet memory will live as long as there is breath in me and, I will never love again as I loved her. I claim the great "Hope" that God promises to all Christians, eternal life in Heaven with all those believers who have gone before us. I'll see you soon Sweetie.

Love Lives On 

Love lives on, no matter what,

If the seed is deeply sown,

And jointly nurtured through this life,

Never mind foul winds have blown,

Never mind the thousand things,

That try to rip and tear apart,

The joy that's shared by lovers true,

Two souls bound as one, in heart.

Life is short, there is no doubt,

But love will live forever,

No matter what the circumstance,

Love lives on, and fails us never.

For I have loved and lost, you see,

The one who met my every need,

Her spirit dwells within my heart,

For love lives on, no doubt, indeed.

He has her, He has you and He has me

 

On the day we paid our last respects to the most beautiful lady I've ever met, God sent a marvelous symbol of His love to flutter around  the gathering of old friends and family, as if to say, "Don't look for her here, I've got her now." I think God sends us little assurances to remind us that He is in charge and we need to trust His guidance in everything. 

In the book of James, scripture says that "the trying of your faith worketh patience". In the past year I have become less patience in looking for God's symbol of reassurance. A year ago in August, the butterflies gathered around my garden flowers and reassured my doubts and fears. There is a God, He has her, and He has me. I have not seen a butterfly since Mindy found one briefly on the azalea bush in the front yard last spring.

Everyday when I go to my Four Runner, I take a peek around to the side of the garage  where my 7' tall butterfly bush is thriving. Covered in long drooping limbs adorned with delicate honey-scented blooms that have bloomed all summer. Every day I have been disappointed to see only the willowing bush swaying in the breeze with no critters clinging to the delicate blooms. I am not patient, but I am persistent to sneak a quick glance to the side of the garage.

Yesterday afternoon, in a great hurry to leave for an appointment, I looked to the side anyway and was amazed to see a couple of golden swallow-tail beauties fluttering around the bush. Took me a split-second to decide to run back into the house, go upstairs, remove  the camera from the tripod and dash back down the stairs to try and capture these God-sent beauties. To heck with the appointment. I need not have rushed, the delicate nymphs posed for 10-15 minutes.

Again, in my life, I am reminded that there is a God, He has her, and He has me.