Would You Like to Participate?

Good morning to everyone. How are you today? We hope this finds all doing well.

The rain continues here…daily. We had a couple periods yesterday of some heavy showers. It’s beginning to stand in the pastures some which isn’t real good on the cows. They have areas though to get out of the standing water.

It won’t stand long in normal situations, but in wet times such as these, there’s just nowhere for it to go. A couple dry, sunny days and it’ll be outta here. Next week the rain chances drop off considerably.

It really affects us in the business we’re in, which is paving. We also do sealcoating, lot striping, etc., but with the rain chances being so high like they are now, well, it’s better to sit it out instead of pushing our luck. Better safe than sorry.

The garden is taking a hit as well. Man, those little guys are beginning to suffer pretty heavily from a too much water standpoint. In times like these I’m wondering why in the heck didn’t I just bed em up…just in case? LOL!

Anyway…

My purpose with the post today is quite simple.

As a lot of you guys know, Judi and Brian, of “The Canada Free Press” had asked Deb and I about doin this site…Ridin Out the Recession. We agreed.

This started, I believe, at the end of Jan. of 2011. We talked about recipes, food storage, canning, tough economic times, and things she and I had done in this regard.

Well, the two of us both liked (okay LOVED) to talk, tell tales, jerk a chain or two, and even go back to “the day” of when we were growing up and we loved sharing some of those memories with you guys.

Through this, Deb had commented to me on numerous occasions of the enjoyment this site had brought to her. She used to tell me that because of the site, she had stopped, looked back, and relived things in her past that literally brought a smile to her face, and I now know, put one into her heart as well.

This became Deb’s motto… “Keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!”

We were so blessed to have been involved in such an endeavor because it was something we worked on…together.

If you look back at some of our posts in the beginning, you’ll see very quickly that we not only loved pickin at others, but THRIVED at the opportunity to…pick at each other! Laughin at ourselves was almost, but not quite as good as laughin at someone else! LOL!

We were…in our environment!

Then, April 1, 2011, our lives changed…forever…

Anyway, Deb and I had started, actually pretty much had completed about 80% of a cookbook. We were literally on the verge of publishing it, but somewhere along the line, during her ordeal, it came to have little importance…to me mostly.

Deb became the center of my universe. Her happiness and wellbeing became THE priority in my life. Nothing else mattered.

Looking back now, right here this morning, I’d not have done it any other way.

My point is this…

SO MANY of you guys became our friends! Many, part of our extended family.

This whole thing has been pretty tough. Finally, I’m beginning to get my feet back on the ground, and focus is becoming a part of my life once more.

A couple weeks back, the thought came to me to “suck it up” and finish this book. BUT, by doing so, it too would help me heal. The reasoning is simple.

Its chock full of the very things that she and I were enjoying so much….always did.

Cooking obviously is one of these, BUT, laughing is the main reason. I started looking back, rereading this dern thing and there it was… a “smile on my face, and one in my heart!”

She still blesses me, to this day! That little heifer!

Then I got to thinking on it some. It was gonna be something to do with Dub and Deb as the title, but then it hit me, that’s not what it REALLY ought to be about…Dub and Deb.

You guys had supported us, prayed for us, worried about us, and believe it or not, had literally CARRIED us through some very, very, difficult times. I’ve said this how many times now? I’m sure some of you may be getting tired of hearin it, BUT…it’s fact!

So, it dawned on me this needs to be titled, “Deb and Friends.”

It needs to be about her, and the friends she came to know and love, and she did…she loved every one of you guys!

Again, the book is all but finished, but I got to thinkin (which is dangerous in most cases), that if you would like to participate in this, we’d love for you to!

For those who’d like, if you guys would send in just a couple recipes, I’d be thrilled for you to do so, and I know, without a doubt, my better half would too! They’d be put in her book, and very much appreciated.

For those who don’t, it’s no biggie. I understand how busy you can get in today’s world. It is not a problem in the least, as I said, we’ve got recipes in it already runnin out our ears. Some of these would be “scrapped for now,” and any recipes you send would go in their place.

If you feel moved to share any of your recipes, just e-mail them to us at dubanddebs@gmail.com. Once more, let me thank you in advance.

Let me take a couple other moments to share a part of Deb’s dream.

She also has put together a book she wanted to share as well. It is her story of her fight against the cancer she had.

It’s not preaching to you in any way, but only sharing her battle. Her ups and HER downs. The difference God made in her life, and HIS help in the decisions she made in regards to her treatments.

Most know the outcome in the end, but it was more than that. It was her drive, her will to beat it, her quality of life that she lived, and she lived it to the fullest! It also was about the blessings she received from God, and in the end, she received the greatest possible blessing he could have given her…eternal life!

It tore me up when she passed, and it still does, yet I’ve come to understand how selfish of me this was. SHE IS at God’s side. I could ask for no greater gift for her than this.

Anyway, one day I’ll put that out for her as well. The time for me to finish that one up isn’t now. I’m not sure I could do it to the best of my ability, and I won’t do it any other way. I need a little more time.

BUT, Deb had a dream, and I’ll share just a part of that dream with you today.

She loved our place here rurally. We’d lived on a lake not far from here prior to our purchasing this land and building our home. We loved our neighbors and still do, yet Deb stated to me on several, actually a lot of times, of how blessed she was for God to have given us the opportunity to live here.

Although she loved our neighbors at the lake, she said she could not have dealt with her cancer there. She needed times to be alone, and here, she had that.

She’d take walks, look at the beauty of God’s creation, hear the birds singing, even watching the plants and trees grow off, and how lovely nature was. During some of these walks she’d tell me that she’d, “hit a knee,” and talk with God.

She explained this could happen anywhere, and she had the peace and solitude to “hit her knees” basically anywhere or anytime she felt the urge. She talked of God blessing her through our place, and how much it did to keep her spirits high.

So, Deb envisioned something here on the place. Something for her to share with others, to try to give back part of the blessing she’d received.

She explained that the day of her diagnosis was the toughest day she’d ever imagined. We found out her cancer was terminal, and that in the end…it would get her. It was devastating.

But here was Deb, going through this, but worrying about others. She wanted to help them, best she could, after their own diagnosis. She wanted to start something here on her place…

She wanted to build two cabins. Not large, maybe 1 bedroom, a bath, kitchen area and sitting room combined. Through this, others could get away from the “rat race,” and enjoy 2-3 days of quiet. A place to gather their thoughts and possibly leave here with…a game plan.

Free of charge.

She wanted a place where others could come and share the same peace and solitude she’d had, here…on her place. If they’d like, they could work around the garden with her, and even juice with her if they were interested.

They could talk about God, and HIS importance in your life, and to be honest, that’s exactly where she told me she’d gotten this idea of a couple cabins…FROM GOD!

I promised my wife during her last couple of days that even though she wouldn’t be here to physically see her dream, I WOULD SEE that this happened…her cabins. Her dream would come to pass, and…IT WILL. I promised her it would.

So, with her cookbook, I’ll see that half the proceeds, if there are any, will be put into an account strictly for her dream. If there aren’t, I’ll still see her cabins become reality, though it may take a little longer.

I just thought I’d share a part of Deb’s vision with you guys today. She was truly a good Christian woman, who’s heart was the biggest part of her. She was, and is, loved by all who knew her!

I want you all to have a great day, and God Bless! Be sure…to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Doug “Dub” Bronson