Missing Reva Hatcher

 I love playing a game called, Words with Friends  

and I will play with anyone now, but for several years I played this daily game with my daughter-in-law, Reva Hatcher.  

Reva is gone now and everyday as I play with strangers online, I can't help but think of Reva and how much I miss her.  

Reva was a daily presence in my life and as long as she played Words with me I knew that she was fine.  Occasionally Reva would be admitted to the hospital for various reasons and on those days when she didn't respond to a game I knew that something was wrong, and I would call or text her and Gloria, her friend, would always respond and tell me that Reva was sick or in the hospital.

After Brian died Reva and I texted quite a bit, but our texting waned over time.  I asked Reva about this and she told me that I made her more depressed because I reminded her too much about Brian and how much she missed him.  I completely understood what she meant and what she was feeling because I went through the same feelings each time that I was around my own family.  My family was just too much of a reminder of what I had lost, so I avoided them, because it hurt so bad.  I eventually got over this feeling, but in the meantime several years had gone by to my surprise.  Now that I want my family around, they have moved on and are busy living their own lives.  I missed a lot of family time and getting to know my great-grandchildren.  It's funny, or maybe I should say, sad, how a death of a loved one can change so much of your life.

Getting back to Reva.......So instead of talking or texting too much after Brian died we kept in touch through playing Words with Friends together.  Reva and I had played Words for several years before Brian's death.  We started playing the game from the games first beginnings on Facebook, so of course I think of her everyday as I click on the Words icon app on my cell phone.  I don't just miss playing Words with her, I miss her in every way just as I miss my son and Jimmy.  

A snowy Sunday afternoon

The grandkids came over bearing gifts and food this afternoon, soon followed by their mother Suzanne. Matt & Tori have been playing this game at home with their friends and wanted to share the game with Jimmy & I. We were delighted to have their company on this snowy Sunday afternoon. We finished watching a movie while eating the burgers they had brought us and then Matt proceeded to go into the kitchen to fix a dip to snack on while they taught Jimmy, Suzanne & I how to play this game.

The dip Matt fixed was something that he had picked up while on duty at the fire station. He asked for my crock-pot to put the ingredients in. What he threw in there was a block of Velveeta cheese and a large jar of salsa. He had a pound of sausage cooking on the stove and when that was fully cooked he put it into the crock-pot with the other two ingredients. When the cheese was fully melted he put some of the dip into individual serving dishes for each of us and added some sour cream and served it with tortilla chips on the side.

Besides the game, they brought over food gifts. We had made it very clear that we did not want any gifts…frankly, we have run out of room to store anything else. So they made it very clear that these were NOT Christmas gifts, although they were beautifully wrapped like Christmas gifts. Among the ‘food’ gifts was a box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, and boy were they good. So far I have only eaten one of them because I’m still full from the burger and the dip & chips. They also brought us a roll of summer sausage & crackers and what they called, “a breakfast box” filled with Knott’s Berry Farm Boysenberry syrup, Blackberry & Strawberry jellies & jams, pancake and biscuit mixes. We won’t be starving to death anytime soon. Hehehe. Thank you Matt, Tori & Suzanne.

While Matt was busy cooking and fixing his famous dip, Tori took advantage of the situation and began searching for the “Gift Coupon” which I hide every year for someone to find. The coupon is an index card colored red & green and has written on it, “Free Gift Coupon, Please present this coupon for a free gift.” It wasn’t long before we heard her loud screams of joy at finding the hidden coupon. This year Matt didn’t seem to mind that Tori found the coupon first. Last year they spotted the coupon at the very same time and practically knocked each other down trying to get to it first. Of course I’m always prepared for a tie and have several gifts handy to hand out to the grandchildren. Even if they are practically grown up now, they still love surprises…I guess none of us ever out-grow surprises do we?

The coupon was hidden again and Matt searched until he found it too.

The card game was so much fun that none of us wanted to quit playing, except that Matt still had to go feed their horses & they both had to do a few chores tonight before going to bed and getting up early for work tomorrow morning.

And tomorrow morning I get to have more fun too, as I go shopping with Reva for Christmas stocking stuffers and more “Free Gift Coupon” presents, because you just never know who will be stopping in to visit before Christmas.

I think I’m ready for one of those chocolates now….