Leonard Kroon {update}

Leonard in his late twenties

Boho Boy's father, Leonard Kroon, passed away this morning.

We received the phone call from his mother while we were near a beach. I knew the outcome by the look on my husbands face. I wanted to wrap my whole self around him but I gave him the time he needed on the phone and just rubbed his back. The first thing he wanted to do when he got off of the phone was to go down to the ocean. So we did. We sat up against the sand and watched the waves come in and out of shore. Tears would come and go along with the waves as we shared memories and emotions. We felt his spirit with us.

Leonard was 83. He married Carsten's mother, Birgit when he was in his forties and her in her twenties. As I said in my previous post, he was a musician, artist, antique dealer, anthropologist and archeologist. Quite the interesting fellow. In fact, what won Birgit's heart over was when they were on a drive for a picnic, he told her he had a friend in his trunk after she had heard some noise coming from the back of the car. She laughed and didn't believe him. So, they got out and as he opened the trunk and lifted up a blanket, there was a box. In that box was a skeleton. He told her that someone had found the bones while digging up land for a house and had asked him to do research on them. Right then and there she knew she would marry this man. When they had Jon-Erik, then Carsten, their life was full of adventures, digs and treasures. Their house looked like an archeological museum and still does to this day. He was like a Canadian Indiana Jones!

I am so blessed that I had a few years to get to know him. He always called me dear. "Hello dear", he would greet me with. While sitting on the beach today I thought one of my fondest memories with him. We were sitting on the porch in Canada, just him and I alone for the first time. We were going through old civil war letters he had found and he told me some interesting stories. We had an intimate talk about his sons and he told me how very happy he was that Carsten and I were married. He smoked his corn cob pipe. I sipped my wine and the breeze danced in our hair while the sun went down. I knew in that moment that this feeling would stay with me my whole life and comfort me when he was gone from this earth. I was right.

Death is odd. The reality of it all comes in waves. We will miss him so much. We already do so badly.

Carsten's mother, Birgit has been taking such wonderful care of him for years now. It is time for us to take care of her and help her adjust to a new way of living.

Thank you for your prayers. Birgit printed out and read Leonard my previous post about him this morning, as well as your comments. This made both Carsten and I cry hard. Little did you know your words would be such a comfort in his passing hours.

He finally rests in peace with no more pain. I bet he's digging up treasures in heaven already.

Update: We are heading out tomorrow morning to be with his mom for a few days. Thank you for your warmth and support. Tonight we again went down to the ocean and while my husband and I were holding one another, looking out onto the waves, I had an image of Leonard dancing, playing piano and partying with his friends up in the sky. So tonight we had a drink at the hotel bar where we stayed the night of our wedding, to toast Leonard and his newfound happiness. I had a cosmo. Boho boy had a gin and tonic. We haven't had a drink in months. We laughed and shared fun stories about Leonard. We both felt THAT is what he wanted us to do tonight. To celebrate his life. So we are and will continue to do so. Be back soon...until then we'll be lovin' on his moma.