Post by Ellie on Feb 26, 2005 16:43:20 GMT -5
I will always remember the exact moment I knew the man I was meant to be with forever was Eric Hudson.
I had fallen in love before. Or what I thought was love. Every relationship ended the same – with me being deeply hurt and that little voice in my head telling me I would never find true love. I had all but given up when I met him.
We started out friends. I had no intention of getting involved with Eric. He was not going places, I told myself. He was a philosophy major. What stable career could he hold? He was content with playing local gigs with his band. This completely contrasted with my goals of taking the world by storm. He was unconcerned with how everyone perceived him. I, on the other hand, was concerned. I was always trying to please someone and always falling short of pleasing myself.
A few months into our friendship, it became obvious to me that Eric wanted more. He started writing me songs and poetry. While his words were warm and beautiful my heart was still cold as stone. He would leave me little cards and gifts. They were sweet but I wasn’t going to be swayed by this. Eric was a romantic at heart. I, too, had been one before my heart had been broken too many times. It would take more than some pretty words and a pretty face to convince me.
I finally couldn’t put up with his attempts to woe me. I sat him down and told him our relationship could never and would never go beyond a friendship. Eric, not even flinching, said, “Christine, if the only way I can have you in my life is through our friendship then by all means we’ll be friends… best friends.”
Eric and I would be friends. I could handle that. He no longer left me any gifts. He no longer wrote me any poetry. This is the way I wanted it, I thought. But I must admit a part of me did miss the attention. To have someone want you, to have someone feel so strongly about you is a wonderful feeling. If only I could feel the same for Eric, we could have had a beautiful relationship.
My head was telling me I couldn’t have those feelings though. When you live your whole life listening to your head and ignoring your heart you become accustomed to fooling your heart. This was the case for me.
I had a perception of what my life was going to be like. I’m not talking picket fences but not too far from this. Certainly, Eric and his ways didn’t fit in.
One day, I drove Eric to the airport. He was going to study abroad in Japan. On the way there, I suddenly came to the realization that I wasn’t going to see Eric for a long period of time. I can’t tell you what this did to me. I had an internal breakdown. I was going to miss him more than he could ever know. I was feeling physically ill at this point. I didn’t know if it was love but my heart had won out.
Before he left, I kissed Eric. I told him I wanted him to write to me. Over the next few months, I received countless letters from Eric and every now and then a phone call. Once again, his beautiful words filled my head.
I was happy.
When he returned, we had a blissful reunion. We were officially a couple. I even moved in with Eric much to the chagrin of my parents.
Eric never changed. Each day he would tell me how much he loved me. He would say, “I was never a religious man but with you, Christine, every day I thank God.”
It was at the most unlikely moment that I knew Eric was the man I was meant to be with. The man sent to me for a purpose. My angel.
We were driving to my parents’ house in Maine for a Christmas party. Along a stretch of highway, our car blew a flat. Well, anyone who knows Eric or me knows we are not mechanical people. We both were a little clueless on how to handle the situation. I began to cry from all the stress of the situation.
Eric said, “Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’re both college grads. I’m sure we can handle a flat.” After 10 minutes or so of fumbling around we both knew he was wrong.
We decided to wait for a car to drive by and flag them down. The highway wasn’t the busiest but someone would come around sooner or later. Eric was embarrassed by the situation but he also tried to make the best of it, just like everything he did in life.
Typical of bad days that just seem to get worse, it began snowing. Eric put his arm around me and pulled me towards him. He reached behind the seat where we had a bottle of wine we were saving for my parents’ house. After managing to open it up, he took out a Dixie cup and poured a glass for me.
Eric reached over and turned up the radio. While rocking me in his arms he sang along to “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. Now, Eric had a beautiful voice but he wasn’t using it at this time. He was singing purposely off-key to Diana’s part. When it came time for Lionel to sing, of course he expected me to take that. And I did. Eric did his best impersonation and kept me laughing when just 30 minutes ago I was crying and feeling hopeless.
It was in that moment that I knew we would be together forever.
Well, forever has a way of creeping up on someone when they’re least expecting it. As was the case with Eric and I.
After being married for 8 wonderful years and having two beautiful children, Cassandra and Nicholas, Eric passed away at the young age of 34.
So here I stand delivering the eulogy of the love of my life. Summing up how much he meant to me, summing up how great of a person he was, and how he touched my life. The truth is I cannot even begin to describe the ways Eric Hudson touched my life. Given all the time in the world, I wouldn’t be able to convey what he meant to me.
Growing up, we dream of what falling in love will be like. All the ideas we carry as children carry over in to our adult lives. We have this romantic, idealistic view of how it’s going to happen.
The truth of it all is that we don’t know how it’s going to happen and what it will be like.
The truth of it is we shouldn’t know how it will happen and what it will be like.
The truth is when real love comes along its more beautiful, funny, unexpected, and good than anything anyone can ever imagine.
Eric Daniel Hudson
(1971-2005)
I had fallen in love before. Or what I thought was love. Every relationship ended the same – with me being deeply hurt and that little voice in my head telling me I would never find true love. I had all but given up when I met him.
We started out friends. I had no intention of getting involved with Eric. He was not going places, I told myself. He was a philosophy major. What stable career could he hold? He was content with playing local gigs with his band. This completely contrasted with my goals of taking the world by storm. He was unconcerned with how everyone perceived him. I, on the other hand, was concerned. I was always trying to please someone and always falling short of pleasing myself.
A few months into our friendship, it became obvious to me that Eric wanted more. He started writing me songs and poetry. While his words were warm and beautiful my heart was still cold as stone. He would leave me little cards and gifts. They were sweet but I wasn’t going to be swayed by this. Eric was a romantic at heart. I, too, had been one before my heart had been broken too many times. It would take more than some pretty words and a pretty face to convince me.
I finally couldn’t put up with his attempts to woe me. I sat him down and told him our relationship could never and would never go beyond a friendship. Eric, not even flinching, said, “Christine, if the only way I can have you in my life is through our friendship then by all means we’ll be friends… best friends.”
Eric and I would be friends. I could handle that. He no longer left me any gifts. He no longer wrote me any poetry. This is the way I wanted it, I thought. But I must admit a part of me did miss the attention. To have someone want you, to have someone feel so strongly about you is a wonderful feeling. If only I could feel the same for Eric, we could have had a beautiful relationship.
My head was telling me I couldn’t have those feelings though. When you live your whole life listening to your head and ignoring your heart you become accustomed to fooling your heart. This was the case for me.
I had a perception of what my life was going to be like. I’m not talking picket fences but not too far from this. Certainly, Eric and his ways didn’t fit in.
One day, I drove Eric to the airport. He was going to study abroad in Japan. On the way there, I suddenly came to the realization that I wasn’t going to see Eric for a long period of time. I can’t tell you what this did to me. I had an internal breakdown. I was going to miss him more than he could ever know. I was feeling physically ill at this point. I didn’t know if it was love but my heart had won out.
Before he left, I kissed Eric. I told him I wanted him to write to me. Over the next few months, I received countless letters from Eric and every now and then a phone call. Once again, his beautiful words filled my head.
I was happy.
When he returned, we had a blissful reunion. We were officially a couple. I even moved in with Eric much to the chagrin of my parents.
Eric never changed. Each day he would tell me how much he loved me. He would say, “I was never a religious man but with you, Christine, every day I thank God.”
It was at the most unlikely moment that I knew Eric was the man I was meant to be with. The man sent to me for a purpose. My angel.
We were driving to my parents’ house in Maine for a Christmas party. Along a stretch of highway, our car blew a flat. Well, anyone who knows Eric or me knows we are not mechanical people. We both were a little clueless on how to handle the situation. I began to cry from all the stress of the situation.
Eric said, “Don’t worry, sweetheart, we’re both college grads. I’m sure we can handle a flat.” After 10 minutes or so of fumbling around we both knew he was wrong.
We decided to wait for a car to drive by and flag them down. The highway wasn’t the busiest but someone would come around sooner or later. Eric was embarrassed by the situation but he also tried to make the best of it, just like everything he did in life.
Typical of bad days that just seem to get worse, it began snowing. Eric put his arm around me and pulled me towards him. He reached behind the seat where we had a bottle of wine we were saving for my parents’ house. After managing to open it up, he took out a Dixie cup and poured a glass for me.
Eric reached over and turned up the radio. While rocking me in his arms he sang along to “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie. Now, Eric had a beautiful voice but he wasn’t using it at this time. He was singing purposely off-key to Diana’s part. When it came time for Lionel to sing, of course he expected me to take that. And I did. Eric did his best impersonation and kept me laughing when just 30 minutes ago I was crying and feeling hopeless.
It was in that moment that I knew we would be together forever.
Well, forever has a way of creeping up on someone when they’re least expecting it. As was the case with Eric and I.
After being married for 8 wonderful years and having two beautiful children, Cassandra and Nicholas, Eric passed away at the young age of 34.
So here I stand delivering the eulogy of the love of my life. Summing up how much he meant to me, summing up how great of a person he was, and how he touched my life. The truth is I cannot even begin to describe the ways Eric Hudson touched my life. Given all the time in the world, I wouldn’t be able to convey what he meant to me.
Growing up, we dream of what falling in love will be like. All the ideas we carry as children carry over in to our adult lives. We have this romantic, idealistic view of how it’s going to happen.
The truth of it all is that we don’t know how it’s going to happen and what it will be like.
The truth of it is we shouldn’t know how it will happen and what it will be like.
The truth is when real love comes along its more beautiful, funny, unexpected, and good than anything anyone can ever imagine.
Eric Daniel Hudson
(1971-2005)