I wasn't expecting this to happen. Not at all. It came out of left field... way out... near the warning track.
I was reading the New York Times online, and there was a story about the New York State Senate's highest-ranking Republican... Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno. Bruno Won’t Seek Re-Election - NYTimes.com
I am sure those of you who regularly read my blog posts know my political leanings are strongly Democratic, but this has nothing to do with politics. Nothing at all.
Mr Bruno had just met with his Republican colleagues in the New York State Senate, and informed them that he would not be running for re-election this November. Mr Bruno, at age 79, said that after 32 years in office, he had decided it was "time to move on" and make room for what he called "new representation."
And then it came... . Bruno's colleagues expressed their sorrow and disappointment at his leaving. One state senator said: Mr Bruno had been under considerable stress in recent months. He said that Bruno had lost his wife, Bobbie, to whom he had been married for 57 years, this past January.
For some reason... maybe it was because I myself have been noticing my own "advancing age." Or perhaps it's because I still grieve over my own personal divorce some 26 years ago... my divorce from my childhood sweetheart whom I had loved since I was eleven years old.
But it hit me. This dear man... whether he really is "dear" or not... this man, Joseph Bruno, had spent the last fifty-seven years of his life with his beloved wife Bobbie. And then, five months ago, his "bride" passed away.
I just sat there... almost frozen. Here I have grieved over a personal loss of a 26 year relationship, and this gentleman loses his wife, his help-mate, who must have been such a major part of his life for 57 years.
All of a sudden... his beloved wife is gone. By comparison, my grief seemed like a mini-series when compared to his life-long-running epic.
How does one handle that ? How does one recover ? Does one ever recover ? What must this man be going through ?
Joseph Bruno... you don't know me... but you are in my thoughts. Take care...
