April

   I hate the month of April. On the 19th was the 30th anniversary of my dad's death and on the 29th it was the first anniversary of my husband's death. Someone said, I don't remember who,  they imagined my dad and Jack were having a beer together up in heaven. I like that image because it might be very well true.
   Paul Barry Myers, my dad, was a sociologist working for the Bureau of Land Management. One of the projects I heard of him working on was a development project that involved a land developer versus an Indian tribe. Apparently, the developers wanted to build on a piece of land the Indians considered sacred. I don't know what the outcome was.
   John 'Jack' Price Heniford, my husband, was a teacher by trade but he had his degree in Counseling. When he was looking for a position in counseling, there were none open but there was a job in teaching available so he took it.
   They were very similar in several ways. Both of them had higher education degrees, my dad a PhD and Jack a Master's. They both were teachers. My dad taught in Graduate school and Jack taught remedial students in high school. They both loved nature. Jack took lots pictures of birds, animals, flowers, whatever struck his fancy. We lived in Grand Junction the first four years of our marriage and Jack took lots of pictures of Mount Garfield, the Mesa, and the Bookcliffs. We went for drives on the Mesa several times and saw birds that he had never seen before. Being from the Carolinas, there were lots of birds that make their way here but not there and vice versa. Jack and I thought it was important to recycle as much as we could. I would think Dad would have been the same way. It kills me when mom and Gene throw away something that Jack and I would put in the recycling bin. They both had similar temperaments too. Neither shouted much or let things get under their skin. They were pretty even keeled. Neither drank much either. Dad liked a beer after work sometimes or on the weekend during a football game. Jack didn't drink at all when we went out but he liked mojitos in the summer when we had fresh mint. Of course we split a bottle of wine or Asti Spumonti on Chistmas and New Year's too. He introduced me to Reisling and Muscadine wines. Two of his favorites.