"A True Love Story..."

William (Bill) Eure (left) and his partner and husband

of nearly 40 years  Rev. Michael Piazza in the early years of their relationship

Last Saturday was Bill's birthday. He would have been 63. He should have been 63.

Bill's family was very long-lived, so he had good genes. When we met in 1980, I was a runner but gave it up shortly thereafter. Bill then started and kept running for the next 35 years. He worked from home, so going to the gym every day was his favorite break. He always watched his weight and what he ate, and he hardly met a carb he didn't hate. He took vitamins, and fiber, and flax, and always went to bed two hours before I did. He never smoked or did drugs, and he drove like a little old lady. He was never sick and, until days before his death, had never been in the hospital.

Although I'm not nearly as health conscious and never met a carb I didn't like, my family, too, is long-lived, so Bill and I worked hard to save money for what we assumed would be a long retirement. When we got legally married on our 35th anniversary, we talked about how we wanted to celebrate our 50th. Of course, we discovered only a month later that he had stage four cancer, and, eight months later, he was gone.

So, what is the lesson from all of that? I'm still not really sure. Bill probably would have said he wished he had eaten more donuts and less kale. Perhaps he would have said he wished he had retired early or traveled more, but, truthfully, I'm not sure either one of us would have changed a thing. We both felt we were living a dream-come-true because we had people around us we loved deeply and with whom we enjoyed taking this trip through life. We felt we were making a difference in the world. Nothing else really mattered much to either of us. I think the only thing we really wanted was, well, more time.

These days, when my heart aches with his absence, I try to remind myself that greed is a sin and that I'm being greedy. To have loved and been loved like that is a rare and precious gift. Although I wish the life we had was ongoing, as I thought about Bill on his birthday, I realized that, if he still was here, I'd struggle as I did every year to figure out what to give him. Fortunately, we both were aware that what we already had been given was a gift greater than we dreamed could be ours. All we really needed was more time in which to be grateful.

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Michael Piazza