Jaida Johnson
English 4 CP
Period 1
A Journal of Claudian’s Year
The Day Everything Changed June 28th, 2014 will forever be imprinted on my heart, in my mind and in my soul, it was the day that my world felt like it had came to an end, the day my husband died. Growing up you dream about meeting the man of your dreams and starting a family. Having the bug house and just being happy, that’s what i was with Redolphus. Redolphus was my moon and also my stars, and i knew with him by my side I would have no worries at all. Now that he’s gone I don’t think I’ll ever know what it feels like to be whole again. Our love story believe it or not began in 10th grade.We were young silly kids who knew when we first met each other that we would be together forever. We stayed together all throughout high school, and our senior year we went to prom together as well. After prom we graduated high school, but unfortunately we went on two different paths. I went to college at Montclair
State University to study education, and Redolphus went into the army.He served in the Vietnam war,and that in itself was a very scary feeling. Not knowing when he would come home, or if he would return home alive was the scariest feeling to me. I just wanted my best friend back home in my arms safe. When he returned home life was what i had known it to always be, complete. A few months after he returned from Vietnam we got married,the happiest moment of my life.
After we got married we moved into our apartment which then we moved into a house, where i currently live today.As time went on and with us living in the house I always wanted to remodel the house. So we vowed after we get completely settled that's what we will do.

Just a few months after we made that decision we brought into the world two beautiful baby boys, Randy and Rudy Montford who now have grown into wonderful men just like their father.
Redolphus was a great role model to these boys, a great man, a great father, and he had a very big heart. Everyone loved him, and loved who he was. He knew how to tell a story to make you laugh, and he also had this smile that could light up a room, but he also meant business! He didn’t tolerate any nonsense or foolishness and everybody knew that about him. Sounds like i had the perfect life huh? I had the family, the ideal house, well almost, and the perfect guy. It will be a year ago in June that my husband has been dead. He was diagnosed with young cancer a few months prior to his death. With all the chemotherapy and all the doctor visits and the medicine we thought he was getting better, but i will never forget the day he slipped right through my fingers, the day i took my last breath. We were at home and he told me that he was having trouble seeing and i thought to myself something isn't right , so I got up and I was taking him to the doctors, before we could even start the car I looked back and it looked as if he was having a stroke, he had fell over and collapsed. It looked as if he wasn't breathing,so I called
911 and laid him on the grass and started CPR, the rescue squad came and took over, and all i remember saying to him was “don't do this to me Redolphus, don't leave me like this”, and in that instance, you could see the green grass hugging his body and just like that he was gone. Just like that the life i had grown to love and know will never be the same.

The house we lived in will never feel complete like a home if he isnt here. If you want to know what it feels like to have your heart being ripped out of your chest that is it. Until this day I am still grieving the loss of my husband, my bestfriend, my everything. He wont get a chance to see his grandchildren graduate and get married,