Author: Louis Dell'Olio

………………..On December 12th, 2017, at 3:42 pm…..Jac left this Earth…….and she left me forever……It is hard to believe that it is 7 years now that she is gone….it sometimes seems like yesterday, and other times it seems like an eternity…..It is absolutely impossible for me to list ALL the things I miss about Jac…..Her loving, and generous personality….her eyes “as blue as the sky” as her mom always said….her soft skin…her beautiful long legs…her pouty lips….her silky blond hair……her delicious cooking…..but one of the things I do miss more and more….is the sound of her voice….As the years go by her “voice” gets dimmer and dimmer…..I am grateful that there are a few videos that exist where Jac is speaking, and I can watch them and hear her…but I miss her saying with her soft sweet voice….”Lou”…….I have received many questions from people, women and men, on how I cope with losing my life’s partner….the love of my life….Coping truly is different for everyone…..When Jac was very sick, near the end, she told me I had to have a “routine”, and “if I didn’t have one….to make one up”…..She said it would save me….to have something to do each day….She told me it saved her when her beloved mom passed…..She was more worried about me being alone, and drifting into oblivion than her dying!….She was right! I started a daily routine that I could always distract myself with………The first year is the worst…sometimes unbearable…..because…..it’s the first time for everything you are doing alone that you have always done together…..without your love…….The first birthday….the first anniversary….the first Easter, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving……and the first CHRISTMAS……the first spring, summer, fall and winter…..the first snowfall  that Jac always loved…….You miss the everyday things you always did with your best friend and partner in life….your love…. I miss having breakfast together….having dinner by candle light…baking Christmas cookies together….going out for a ride to look at the colorful leaves falling….something Jac loved to do on windy days…all the little things……you miss holding hands…..you miss the everyday hugs……..you miss the kisses…..Maybe I’ve said too much…Jac used to say I did, but talking  about Jac is very cathartic for me….Somehow it makes me feel closer to her……My thoughts of Jac aren’t constantly painful……I try not to think of those last few months, and days when her health got worse and worse…It was the absolute most difficult time of my life…..it is just too painful to think of those days….However…..The pain of losing her isn’t as raw as it was that first year…..A layer of skin has grown over that wound…..but don’t scratch it too deeply, because it all comes roaring back….I try to think of all the happy good times, and the pictures I surround myself with help a great deal to remind me of all the wonderful vacations and the wonderful days we shared together……..My solace is that Jac is where she told me she wanted to be……in her Mom’s loving arms……I imagine them together, watching over me, and I smile with tears in my eyes……Every night before I go to sleep, as I look at her pictures at my bedside…..I say out loud….”good night my sweetheart….I love you over the moon and beyond the stars…….one day closer”.

………………..Through out Jac and my travels together….we always found a shop that had Christmas ornaments….no matter what season it was…..On a trip to Vienna, we found these HAND CARVED, and HAND PAINTED wooden ornaments….The MUSICIANS….the JESTER….the MILK MAID…..the DANCING LADY….and the SANTA holding the baby REINDEER…all hang from the green velvet portieres in the Green Library….We thought they were very unique, and had not seen anything like them….We had to have them…..At my age….I need all the help I can get to bring back these sweet memories……….and these ornaments always bring back the great time we had in VIENNA!

………………In the Green Library there are TAPESTRY chairs, a NEEDLEWORK pillows….The banquet, covered in a classic, forest leaf jacquard fabric, is a line, from end to end, with these pillows….Every chair in the room has a needlework pillow…….I love antiques, especially ones that are extremely unique, and display the artisan work of people long gone…..These artists live on through the beauty they created…..When the green velvet walls of room were finished and the matching green velvet portieres were hung from gold leaf rods with pineapple finials….the room called out for TAPESTRY chairs and pillows to add warmth and a sense of being there, and lived in for centuries…..I never get tired of looking at the colors of the flora and fauna, and the whimsical characters on each pillow….Their richness all tell a story of times past.

…………….The Green Library is the perfect backdrop to display some of the BRASS pieces Jac and I have collected over the years……..I always loved the Vermeer paintings, and this room reminds me of his work. He often had brass chandeliers, lanterns and other brass objects in his paintings. The Dutch were know for their brass lanterns and every day objects that they used in their homes. 95% of the brass pieces I have are Dutch from that time period, and a little later….From left to right. The very large lantern hangs from the ceiling in a corner behind the desk/backgammon table. The Water Kettle and Sliding Trivet sit on a fire screen with a top brass rail….The second lantern at the top left sits on an extremely heavy brass stand that has two small draws…..Below that photo is a small Dutch lantern and a brass pear that opens…They sit on the desk….There are two candelabra, center photo, that hold four candles each. They are located on the velvet wall on either side of the fireplace. The photo below is a letter holder, and it sits on the desk too…I was a gift from friends…..The candle tray and snuffer sit on a antique gun case which is on a stand…..The case has wonderful brass fittings. I use the case as an end table next to the banquet……The French Bouillotte candle lamp sits on the desk, as well as the small lantern in the photo next to it…..The photo at the top right shows three brass dial weather barometers below the painting that are working, and are connected to a small wind dial on the roof!……Above the painting of the Whippet, done by a well known English painter of the 18th hundreds, which Jac gave me as a Christmas present……hangs a Mariners clock. The clock was handed down to Jac’s  mother’s father by his father…..so it belonged to Jac’s great grandfather….Jac’s mom, being an only child, inherited the clock from her father………..I love the gleam of brass and the warm glow it gives.

…..Half way through the show I accidently hit the stop record button….so we had to start the show again. That’s why there are two videos….”me bad!”