Catholic Singles

SHE NEVER WANTED A CADILLAC
BY: MARK ANTHONY ROSOLOWSKI

I never gave thought to certain things while my wife was alive. I never thought about how she did not like make-up. I never realized how she was happiest when her hair fell in its natural way, not with a perm or beauty parlor treatment. I never noticed how she dressed plain and did not want fancy dresses or frilly things. I did not see how she preferred to go out unadorned, how jewelry did not interest her. I guess over the years, I stopped seeing these things and just saw her as she was, a beautiful lady that I truly loved.

It was one of those things you never realize or do not pay attention to, Donna like looking natural that is what I fell in love with. I remember our first date, we went to see a movie, "The China Syndrome" and then we went for a pizza at Pizza Hut. As we sat in our both, I held her hand, I saw her eyes, and it was confirmed that I was in love. I told her how beautiful she was and she started to cry. When I asked her what was wrong she told me that she was not the beautiful one, but her sister was. I held her hand, I told her, she was wrong, I told her she was the most beautiful girl on earth, and I leaned over the table and gave her our first kiss. I do not know if she ever saw her beauty as I did, but she was beautiful. She was plain and simple and that was the secret to her beautiful appearance.

When we went to pick out our wedding bands, I saw some ornate rings, that cost more then we could afford, but I wanted the best for her. We looked over the rings and she decided on the plain gold bands. I asked her if she would rather have one of the fancier rings, as they were beautiful. She just smiled and said “I am not into that fancy stuff.”

At our wedding, it was the first time I saw her with her hair done in a special style, it was the first time I saw her in makeup, and it was also the last. After the reception, the first thing she wanted to do was get the "Gunk" as she called it off her face, and to comb out her hair. After she was done, she came to me and I again saw the girl that I fell in love with. I have always found it amazing how God can create such beauty, I had seen her sister without make up but her beauty did not compare to the beauty of my wife. I will always see her as a simple, plain, lady she had a true inner beauty that radiated outward.

As we went through our married years, she finally started to accept it when I told her she was beautiful, but she still favored cheese-wiz on a Ritz cracker over pate. When our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary rolled around, I wanted to get a new set of wedding rings, and to renew our vows. I took her to the jewelry store and showed her beautiful wedding band sets, she just turned them all down. I told her we could afford the rings, she just shook her head. Held up her hand and looked at me and said, “I love these, that small diamond and that plain gold band is what I like.” I never realized what she was actually telling me. Looking back I realize she wanted to be plain, she did not like fancy.

After she died I was looking at the caskets, I wanted the best for her, I saw an ornate silver casket, it had sterling silver handles, ornate carvings in the handles and on the mounts and it had hand stitched satin interior. The handles shinned in the light and the casket itself was perfect. Next to it though was a plain brown casket, nothing ornate about it, the handles were just a plain metal, there were no ornate carvings and the interior was plain satin, no hand stitching. I looked at them and picked the plain one remembering her telling me “I am not into that fancy stuff.” I picked out an outfit that she had worn several times, it was plain and simple, I made sure the director had a picture of her with her hair as she liked it and I told him no extra makeup. When I saw her she was my beautiful angel. I knew I had done right, it was what she would have wanted.

The day of the funeral, as we said our final good-byes at the funeral home, I leaned over, kissed her for the last time and whispered, “Don’t be mad at me, but you have to ride in a Cadillac.”