Anniversary Surprise Ch. 02

I guess I fell asleep sometime early that morning. The alarm went off around 10am; I woke Jan telling her we didn't have much time for her plane. Jan woke up in a playful mood; she just wanted to stay in bed all day. We did make love with Jan telling me about all the things she would do to me and for me.

She reluctantly agreed to go home, but only if I promised to come up the next weekend. I agreed to come up the next weekend, she made such a big scene at the departure gates, that they must have thought we were newlyweds leaving each other for the first time.

Jan did call me later that afternoon; she had a family gathering that the next weekend on Saturday evening but would be free the next day. I flew up the following weekend and prepared to go see my wife. Saturday, she had plans for us but not the time alone that I had wanted. We would not have any time together.

Saturday evening when we finally got back to the hotel Jan wasn't feeling very good and took some of her pills she barely got undressed before she was out. Here I made this special trip up at her request and her she was in a drug induced sleep. I wasn't very happy about it. I made a list of her medicines to have a doctor tell me what she was taking. After I gotten into bed, she wrapped herself up with me. When Jan woke the next morning she asked why I was dressed and ready to go. I said it was nearly noon and I had my plane to catch. She said she was disappointed we didn't get to make love, I said was more than disappointed, I was frustrated and that if this kept up I'd file for divorce. I wanted a wife not a sedated zombie. She could see I was frustrated and mad. I said you wanted me to come and we didn't get anytime together yet alone, as far as I'm concerned it was a wasted trip. She asked if I would wait so she could at least come to the plane with me. I said why bother I'm leaving; you could have met me when I arrived. As she kissed me goodbye at the airport, I said I wanted more than goodbye kisses, more than nights where she was in a near drug induced coma state. She was crying as she left the airport.

Her shrink called me next afternoon. He said "didn't I know the damage I had done to her by telling her I was considering divorcing her." He said I wouldn't get far with a divorce hearing. I said I still had grounds for divorce, that she committed adultery and that she had gotten pregnant while doing it. And I said Adultery is still grounds for divorce in Texas. I told him that I wanted her to either move to Texas with me or it was over.

Jan called me later that night. She was clearly upset, "Jan, I said I simply told him the truth. Either you are my wife or you're not, and right now I beginning not to care, one way or the other." I need a wife and the kids need a mother, you haven't been a mother to them in over 8 months. She was crying trying to tell me that she'd be a good wife, if only I'd give her the chance. Jan, I said that's all I've heard from you are promises and right now those promises don't hold much water. She was crying so hard, she finally said I couldn't talk right now; I'll call you back later.

Later, turned out to be the next night at 3am. "Yes what is it I asked?" She said it's me pleas don't hang up. She was calling me to tell me that they'd changed her medicines. "Fine, I said what does that mean to me?" She said the doctors had been finding people in Texas to takeover her treatment. I said that's fine but that I wasn't going to be kept out of her treatment any more. She said I wouldn't be, I said, "that's nice you're saying that, but you really don't have much say." I said, "If your mom and the shrink don't agree don't even bother coming." She said she thought I'd be happy for the good news. I said they are just more promises, and I've got so many of those, I don't need any more. She said the doctor would call me later. She said she wanted this to work, I said that I needed proof, not more promises. She finished by saying she loved me, more than ever.

When we were finally reunited as a family, it was hard at first; we had a lot of adjusting to do. It had been almost a year since my 10th anniversary surprise. We had survived an auto accident that had nearly killed her and several other things that had come close. We only lived in Texas for a year. I took a new job, the Divestiture of AT&T, which would send my career and personal life to what I at the time considered to be the best of time for my family.

We moved to Virginia, we bought a new house and settled in. By this time, my daughter was in first grade and my son ready to start a church pre-school. Jan didn't work for over 10 years. She became active in the kids schooling and in the PTA. I thought we had finally turned the corner. Jan's ulcers got worse with time until she finally had surgery. After the surgery, Jan found out that she would require care for the rest of her life; she wouldn't be able to work any more. Jan went in for the surgery, the day after Labor Day. We were told that the surgery would only take about 90 minutes; Jan was in surgery for almost 5 hours. Her ulcer had eaten clear through her stomach to her pancreas. The surgery team had spent more than 2 hour trying to get the remnants off. I made the 2-hour round-trip to the hospital every day she was in. She never said she loved me anymore and even asked me one day when the trip had taken more than 2 hours instead of its usual one hour, "why did I came to see her every day?" I gave her the only answer I was capable of giving, "because I love you."

Jan stayed in the hospital until the middle of October. She finally came home for a few days but was in poor condition. She was readmitted less than a week after she was released. She stayed in the hospital until the 3rd of December. The hospital had begun a new treatment that was scheduled to last 60 days with 7 days between treatments. Her condition would vary greatly from day to day, each day she was home with us. I was taken her back for her doctors' checkup at the hospital before they began the second round of treatment. Jan never made it back, she complained of pains before I got to the hospital, one final pain, that she said was the worst she had ever felt struck her just blocks away from the hospital. When I pulled in to the emergency room, she was no longer breathing. They tried for an hour to bring her back to life, but failed. She was barely 47 when she died December 8th, 1994.