To love, honor and cherish (Mpls. StarTribune login: fritopie; password: fritopie)
One of the enduring and ultimately unanswerable questions facing mankind is “What is Love?” It’s something that means something different to each of us, of course, and that is, I suppose, as it should be. If anyone needs a refresher course, though, this story should help to make it crystal clear.
You would never be able to say that Richard Kaasa is anything but consistent, nor could you ever question his devotion to his late wife. I would hope that, should I ever find myself in a similar situation, I would have the clarity and perspective to realize how fortunate I have been to have a partner like Susan to go through life with.
Every day…
Richard Kaasa will do what he does every day at noon.
He’ll drive Lila’s car 4 miles from their rambler in Circle Pines to the Incarnation Cemetery in Lino Lakes.
He’ll pull a folding lawn chair out of the trunk, along with a newspaper and small framed picture of Lila Rose Kaasa taken in 1977 when she served as a school nurse at the Centerville Elementary School.
And for an hour, Richard will sit beneath four pines, reading the paper and honoring his wife. In the summer, he sits still and hopes the deerflies leave him alone. When it’s subzero, he pulls on his lined coveralls and blue knit cap and moves his chair so his back is square to the northwest winds.
“Some people come out on birthdays or anniversaries of a death and stay five minutes,” Richard, 73, said during Saturday’s visit. “Nobody stays as long as I do. But every day is special for me. I come out here to be close to her and honor her.”
We should all be so fortunate as to have a life filled with love and devotion like Richard’s. Not many of us are blessed to have a partner like Lila, and fewer still would recognize it if they are. I hope that I will always be conscious of how truly blessed I am to have Susan as my partner. I only wish I’d found her sooner.
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