Robert at 35, Ruth at 50
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We had planned to grow very old together.
At Hufeland Klinic in Bad Merganheim, Germany, 2001, getting wholistic treatments for her cancer. We used alternative treatments for five years. In the sixth year, chemotherapy and radiation led to her rapid decline. In Germany, they strengthened her immune system. In the US, they destroyed it. When the cancer returned, she was defenseless and died within two months. Since it declined briefly, statistically her cancer is listed as a successful treatment. It is statistics like that which get new, terribly expensive and ineffective cancer drugs approved by the FDA. The pharmaceutical companies make billions. The patients die. (Do I sound bitter? Don't get me started . . . . )
For more than 20 years, Ruthie's trademark was her twin braids and permed hair. In about 2000 she cut it shorter in a style easier to care for.
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We wrote our own ceremony. Ruth forgot her lines. Our center, One Heart, sponsored many activities. So, after being declared husband and wife, while we had a captive audience of several hundred people, we made anouncements for upcoming events. Not knowing how many people would come (we sent out 2,000 invitations), we made it a pot luck reception. The guests brought their own food. Worked like a charm. The weather was sleet and snow. After the reception, we drove straight to Vision of Peace, a hermitage in Peavley, MO, along the Mississippi River, where we got completely snowed in for a week. What could have been more perfect?