The death of Annamae Weber

As I opened up the paper this morning, and saw the obituary for Annamae Weber. I didn't know Annamae. The newspaper tells me she was a life long resident of our modest little town, but spent most of her social and church life in a nearby larger community.

So why did this small article in a regional newspaper faze me a little today?

Well, when I worked at a local real estate office, we had friendly and vibrant couple who worked there too. They had recently sold their very successful family business, and to keep busy they took on jobs at the real estate firm. She was the secretary, while her husband attempted to sell real estate. He wasn't very good at it, but their vitally and warmth was a blessing to the small office.

When I first met this tall thin man, he impressed me with his wide wrinkled smile. His wife would laugh and tell me to stop flirting with her 78 year old husband.

One slow day, as we sat in the office shooting the breeze. I remember that he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said in an honest tone, "I can’t call you by your real name. Ya see, my first girlfriend was Annamae, and when I look at you, I see her."
His wife laughed and said, "Ya, but she wouldn't be married to a poor farmer" They both would smile at each other and laugh about a love many years old.

I sat there uncomfortable and flattered all at the same time. From that day on, he only called me Annamae.

I still see this wonderful couple around town. I hope that my marriage can last as long as theirs. I hope that someday my husband and I can look back on life and laugh about old loves and young woman. Young love can be so insecure.

To see two people so full of life and love is an incredible gift. I will always be grateful that I worked with them. They have given me some wonderful advice over the years and set a great example about loving, giving and living. I still see her at the baseball games, watching her grandson play. She doesn’t miss many games. I see him every once in a while riding his bike to stay in shape. He is now 86 years old. 80 seems young when you see them. They never could act their age!

So today I, along with many others, morn the loss of Annamae Weber.

I wonder if her family knows how a small part of her lives on in the memory of and old man and in the mind of a young woman.