Our story

Over 30 years ago, while working at Hidden Valley Ski Area,  a ski instructor asked me on a date.  He was cute but he had a reputation of being a ladies’ man.  He and his buddy Tom would take different girls sailing in the Caribbean every summer.   So I wasn’t interested.    He was persistent though.   He would come to my office all the time.   Most of the time he’d just ask if I changed my mind.

One day he stopped in my office and said – “I just want you to know that I am not a ladies’ man – I am just looking for the right girl.   I raised my kids for several years as a single father.  They are in college now.   I am a ski instructor on weekends only.  Monday through Friday I am a successful Certified Financial Planner.  I have been asking you out for over a year now but I am NEVER going to come into this office to ask you out again!”   (My thought…. WOW -  HE IS CUTE!).   And he didn’t.  The ski season ended.   

Happy to say that about six months later, I bumped into Fred outside of my office when he asked me out for truly the last time.  Linda and Fred began.   We sold both our houses and bought our together home on the main lake in Highland Lakes in 1992. 

We were engaged in 1994 and married in 1997.  Over the years our kids married.  We were empty nesters enjoying travel, life at the lake, our families and each other.  Life was good.   In 2012, when Kim’s marriage ended, she and her 3 children, Keiran, Katie and Ayden moved in with us.  Life got even better.   Fred loved my children and grandchildren as his own. He could never do enough for them.   And he adored and so admired his daughter Augusta who is a special lady and very much like him, which I promise is a compliment.    

Fred began his first battle with prostate cancer in 2015.  He followed doctor’s orders, had radiation and other treatments for 3 years.  He felt great.  He beat it.  Life went on as we knew it.   He delivered the kids to their school buses and picked them up.  The whole family enjoyed Disney World, among other things.   We floated in the lake, cooked burgers on the grill and made s’mores.  He camped with Keiran in scouts and wouldn’t miss a moment he could spend with him.  He never missed the opportunity for a walk to the beach in summer or play in the snow in winter with Keiran, Katie or Ayden.   He was always the willing lifeguard in the yard for them and their friends.   It was Poppy the kids went to for advice, fun and games on a daily basis.

Then in the latter part of this June, Fred had an MRI due to a backpain which was followed up by a CAT scan.  Cancer had metastasized and a liver biopsy was scheduled for the second week of July to determine what chemo would work.  Fred’s health deteriorated so quickly, he was no longer a candidate for chemo by the time of the scheduled biopsy.  He was in pain.  Hospice at home began on July 12th.  Fred’s daughter Augusta, who is a nurse, spent his last week with us.  She came from Vermont to help take care of him.    I am so thankful for that.  We also had two health aides (1 live-in and 1 night) giving a hand.  We are shocked at the speed with which this newly diagnosed aggressive cancer took his life in such a short time –about 4 weeks from diagnosis.     

I am so thankful for the support of Kim, Amy and Ana as we work through this journey and loss.  They are always here to help.   And thank you so much to the many friends and family members that have reached out to us with their support and prayers.  It means so much to me. 

What I am most thankful for was the chance meeting outside of my office 30 years ago, when Fred asked me out for the last time when I became the only girl sailing with him for the rest of his life.  It just wasn’t long enough for me.