August 31st, 2014
Tonight’s Post, John Merryman, III, Ernest C. Raskauskas, ECR, Bethany Beach, Delaware, Our Beginnings at the Delaware Beaches
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. helen keller
My post starts tonight with those words because as many of you know, my husband, John Merryman, III passed away August 31, 2013. I remember saying…1 month…2 months, then, 6 months….and now it has been 12 months.
It is very hard for me to talk about John in the past when he is so much in our present. John would be happy of the things that we, as a family, have accomplished. I will leave it at that, since it is more private.
I have so many photos of John. He did not like his picture taken, but now that over the years I have done so, I am so happy. Some of them are pretty funny, and he would just shake his head if I put them here.
He, actually, did not want us to dwell on his passing. We miss him, so we do.
A few weeks ago, I came full circle. Mr. Ernest C. Raskauskas was in Bethany Beach, Delaware. Mr. Raskauskas hired John as a realtor back in 1977. John came to interview at the beach and the rest is history. John learned so much from this man….contract writing and real estate in general. Mr. Raskauskas was a trial lawyer in Washington, D.C. He is a philantropist, who has given his time, funds, and full heart to those causes that are dearest to him.
Back in the day his real estate company was called East Coast Resorts. They developed Bethany West, Bayberry Woods, and The Villas of Bethany West, among others developments. Many of the real estate companies started in Bethany at the time, were started by realtors that had worked for Mr. Raskauskas, including Tidewater Realty, which my husband started in 1988.
I saw Mr. Raskauskas on his visit to the beach and I asked him how he was and he answered “I am still here”. He is witty, so intelligent and the patriarch of a family of 9 children. Mrs. Raskauskas was the ultimate matriarch, as well.
John and I became part of their family. They treated us like their children.
I wanted to get together with him. His daughter, Annie, was John’s best friend, along with Jay. So I asked her if I could come to see him at her house. I brought food, and we celebrated John’s life. Our life, in Bethany started with him. It was so nice to visit and have dinner with him and remember “the good old days”.
Thanks to Mr. Raskauskas who picked the reading for the evening. Psalm 23 (King James Version)….The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want….
Just a few of us there….our friend, Carol, as well. She had known John for so many years too.
Carol, Annie, Mr. R.
Today, John, Michael, and I celebrated John’s life with our own ceremony….and then just like John would have wanted us to do we went to eat at the diner in downtown Bethany.
John’s prize possesion was his family….he loved Michael and John. He showed them how to ski, hunt, fish, play golf, baseball, and throw the lax ball. The three of them had a ball when skiing.
Now it is just the two of them….with me at their sides.
Putting one foot in front of the other, taking it easy and handling things just like John would have wanted us to do have made the path easier. So, until next time…..I can hear John saying…enough is enough, pleeeeease!! Talk to you later.
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