George

Much to my dismay, I was bombarded with country music in my youth. Of course, today I love it. Years ago, it was not cool and I aspired to be cool.

In my house, we watched "Hee Haw" on Saturday night. And if my dad was driving the car, we listened to the country station.

George Jones was, and is, one of my Dad's favorite artists. We have been to his concerts. For the record, "No Show Jones" usually showed.

When George's ex-wife and love of his life (Tammy Wynette) remarried, George referred to her mate as his husband-in-law. I have often borrowed a version of that term.

He has jillions of great songs but the one that makes me reach for the tissues is He Stopped Loving Her Today. It's morose -- a love carried until his dying day:

"...They placed a wreath upon his door
Then they carried him away
He stopped loving her today..."

Today I went to the house to deal with stuff: his stuff, my stuff, our stuff, stuff nobody wants ...

And I admitted it to myself:

She stopped loving him today.