Jim's sunglasses

Never ending gifts of love that transcend time and space

My inheritance was not like most other widow’s. Mine consisted of what I like to call The Northwoods Widow’s Dowry.

When your husband dies and leaves you a guide service, you get a lot of interesting things. Things like:

Guns.

Ammo.

A Boat.

Fishing Rods.

Fake Bait (I am the Fake Bait Heiress).

Lures.

and

Sunglasses.

Now, much like shoes and handbags, you can never have too many sunglasses. Their usage is specific to the situation. Glass. Plastic. Green lenses, yellow lenses, blue reflective lenses oh my.

I was packing up to head to Montana for a trout fly fishing trip with my aunt a few weeks ago, and I was trying to figure out which of Jim’s sunglasses I needed to take. Green glass? Amber? Dark plastic? Will the water be clear? Will it be overcast? Will it snow?? So many choices!!

Never once have I thought to myself, man it’s been 11 years, I must be stuck because I am carrying Jim’s things around. No, I’ve been finding sunglasses he left me for YEARS. I would move, open a box, and there would be yet another pair of brand-new Costas in a box just waiting for me to take it on an adventure (or give it to a person who might appreciate them).

Every time I find a new “thing” of his it’s a gift, and every time I use something he left me, it’s a gift. Not only a literal gift, but a gift of the knowledge he gave me, and the time I had with him here.

We don’t move on. We move forward. Sometimes with their things. Sometimes with their knowledge. Sometimes just with the knowledge that they truly love us.

Don’t you mean *loved*?

No, love. They love us. No matter where they are, their soul is energy, and that energy is love.

Those gifts we continue to hold dear and use as they should be used are evidence of a deep love that transcends time and space.

Never forget that.