The Other Sister

This was one of my favorite tributes. It's not my favorite because it's written by my best friend, but it's another reason WHY Melissa is my best friend....who else could be my best friend but someone who writes like this??!?


I have to admit that substantial analysis paralysis set in when I contemplated what to say about Bob and Jan. Where do I start? What do I focus on? I decided to follow my son Gavin's lead. After one of the first times that our son Gavin (then about 4 years old) spent time with Bob and Jan in the same setting, he asked the following on the way home from the back seat of the car: "Hey Mom, you know that man with the white beard that always hugs me really hard? And that lady with the white hair who always smiles at me a long time? . . . . . They go together, right?"

What I believe he picked up on is what I admire and honor most about Bob and Jan. They are TOGETHER. Together in the sense that they compliment each other in a way and to a degree that I have never witnessed before or since . .. .(wait, is there a "before" with people that have known you since you were born???) Anyway, that "togetherness", "connectedness" and learned compatibility are all things that I have come to value so very much through their example. I can see why God designed marriage the way He did when I think about the way Bob and Jan bring out the best in one another.

I think about how they hold each other accountable without judgement. (who knows if Mr. Lewis would have frostbite due to exposure from his scantily clad West Chester Pike runs without Mrs. Lewis saying "enough is enough") How they honor each other's individuality and temperaments (Mr. Lewis respected Mrs. Lewis' tardy though stylish second verse of second hymn entrance every Sunday). They just seem to "get" one another. It is astounding to me that two people with such rich personalities and convictions have found a way to not only be married for 50 years, but to be TOGETHER that long, too. That is beautiful to me.

Melissa Tabasso