Clifford

Yesterday, July 14th would have been my first husband's 62nd birthday, if he were alive. He died in January 1973 at the age of 21. He was working part time on a maintenance crew, at what was then called Pontiac State Hospital, while he was in school. The day he died, the crew was cutting down some trees,and Cliff's job was to keep any patients out of the way of the falling trees. They were cutting trees down without guide wires and when one was falling, it came in Cliff's direction, and he tripped ; the tree crushed his chest. I was just starting my student teaching, and left school, getting to the hospital just in time to see him before he died from the injuries. We had only been married 15 months, still in the "honeymoon/ newlywed " phase. We buried him at White Chapel, and I purchased an extra lot next to him. As it turned out, my brother Jim, who was murdered at the age of 27, was buried there in 1978. They were close friends;Jim introduced Cliff to me. That these young men who were both so significant to me -and to each other- would be buried next to each other was consoling. That was 40 years ago for Cliff and 35 years ago for Jim - another lifetime it seems, because I have been with Alfredo since March 1974. A weird coincidence is that Clifford died on January 13, and that is Al's birthday. Another coincidence is that Cliff's birthday, 7/14, is also Bastille Day in France, and that was the first time I was kissed by my first love Jean -Marc. Connected memories....