Since July 11, 2009 my life has been turned upside down. I have been left wondering how one person could destroy my future with my husband and best friend in an instant. Now I’m left trying to figure out the rest of my life with out him.
Because of Joe’s frequent travel, long work hours and biking schedule the amount of time we were actually together was limited which is why we made every moment count.
One way he showed how much he cared is through cards.
READ CARDS
Some people live to work we worked to live and living for us was travel and adventure.
Ironically September 11, 2009 2 months after Joe died we had plans to go to Hawaii with my parents to celebrate both our anniversaries our 6th and their 50th. We were really looking forward to sharing this experience with my parents.
On July 11, 2009 while my parents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, I was in shock as I called them to say Joe was killed. What was once a day of celebration is now a day of sadness.
We had a trip to experience another culture in April 2010 to Japan. Joe had been to Japan & China many times for work and had dreamed of taking me there. He said I would love it and he had a good trip planned for me.
When we were dating we discovered our love of live music. Which lead us to Austin TX – Live music capital of the world. Were enjoyed Austin City Limits music festivals for our 1st wedding anniversary. We then fell in love with the city. We dreamed of having a home there for winter get aways that dream was shattered.
Even though we didn’t have any children we had a dog-named Foxy. A small 4-pound Papillion/Chihuahua mix we rescued. At first the two of them had a love hate relationship some how she found her way into Joe’s heart and he loved coming home and spending time with her.
For months after his death she would look for him to come home and even now if I mention the words Daddy her big ears perk up and she looks around for him. I know she misses him everyday.
SHOW PHOTOS OF FOXY & JOE
Even though my planned future with Joe is gone I have many wonderful memories of our life together. In our almost 6 years of marriage we packed so much living that friends often commented that we did more with our short time together than most people do in a whole life time.
I truly miss being able to pick up the phone to hear how his day is going at work, share a story from my day or reminisce on our life and things we have done.
Like how awesome the food is in Italy…Our fascination with seeing the Berlin Wall a piece of history we both remembered living through…Looking at a painting hanging on our wall and laughing at all the trouble we had trying to get it home in the rain.
SHOW TRAVEL PHOTOS
Losing Joe has devasted my parents. They now constantly worry about me, because they lost the person they trusted to take care of me for the rest of my life. They truly thought of Joe as their son and vice versa.
When we lived in Brussels my parents planned a trip over Thanksgiving to visit us. There flight from Minneapolis was delayed which messed up the rest of there connections. Joe was so concerned about them arriving safely that he planned fly to Amersterdam to surprise them. Luckily he was there to help fix the situation. He truly cared about my parents and was grateful for every thing they have done for us.
Joe was thrilled when a year later my parents came for another visit this time at Christmas.
We wanted to do something special for my parents. Joe thought my dad would enjoy the war memorial and sites of Normandy, France. We surprised them with a trip there; Joe and my dad were like little kids climbing in the bunkers, checking out all the museums and almost getting caught in the very fast tides on the beach.
He was not only special to my parents but to my brother and his family. When my nephews Cole & Parker saw Joe race for the first time they were hooked. Joe was happy to talk to them and answer questions about bikes, training and equipment. Since the accident it took them a while to get back to biking.
Not only has Joe’s death impacted my future most deveasting to me is the affect on my present. I’m a very social person and many of our friends are not able to be around me or talk to me because I remind them of Joe. Not only is Joe gone but also my circle of friends is just when I need them the most.
ANNE’S CARD
Here are some comments from people Joe worked with
Joe’s death touched so many people everywhere not just in California and Minnesota.
I think about him everyday – his smile, his eyes, his laugh mostly of all I know that I was deeply loved and cherished by him.
I would like Mr. Valencia to think about what he took away from me, my family, friends and his colleagues every day of his life.
