He died on a Monday, which seems fitting because, as weird as it sounds, Bob loved Mondays. It was literally his favorite day of the week. At least that’s what he told everybody. He was always such a rebel, so maybe his loving Mondays had more to do with going against the conventional grain, just to be different from everyone else. He was definitely his own person! 

Bob always said he started planning for his Mondays on Thursday afternoon. I never could quite relate because I was too busy doing other stuff on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays to take time to plan. But of course, Bob had drilled it into my head a long time ago that “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” So, of course, I didn’t neglect planning altogether. I just put it off ’til late Sunday afternoon. Hey, it works!

Bob could have gone to meet Jesus on any day of the week, but it was in the early hours of a Monday morning when his soul left its earthly body with all its sickness and disease behind. Talk about the ultimate Monday Morning Motivation! I’m sure Jesus didn’t need to call him twice. 

Speaking of Monday Morning Motivations—that crazy e-newsletter was a part of our lives for well over 800 Mondays! We rarely took a week off in more than 16 years. It was my job to edit Bob’s Seeds of Success article for each MMM issue, and to find some quotes and other content to go with it. More often than not, I was putting on the finishing touches late Sunday afternoon or evening (right before I did my planning), scheduling it to show up promptly in people’s inboxes at 5 a.m.

A few days after that first Monday without him, our thoughts turned to planning Bob’s Celebration of Life. We had wanted to have it on a Saturday, but our church wasn’t available for some reason, so we decided on Monday, exactly two weeks after his homegoing.  I am sure Bob would have liked that, and I felt as though it was God’s way of smiling down on us. Then, as Providence would have it, Christmas and New Year’s Day both fell on a Monday, as did many other special days that first year.

Over the years, Bob’s love of Mondays kinda rubbed off on me, and now I can honestly say I love Mondays, too. Well, most of the time, anyway. I—like Bob—came to see each Monday as a fresh and brand new start to the work week. A day when I am able to accomplish as much as possible because I am usually well-rested after the weekend break and ready to get back into weekday routines. 

I don’t know exactly when it was, but sometime early in 2024, I began counting the Mondays. It was my little way of honoring Bob and grieving my loss, and it has sort of become a ritual. It is the one day in the week when I drink my coffee from Bob’s black ceramic Mr. Attitude mug, journal about how many Mondays it has been since he left us, and remember the many things I miss about Bob and Mondays (and every other day) with him. It’s not uncommon for me to shed some tears. I confess that many times, I break down and have a much-needed cry. The tears are cleansing, for sure. It is comforting to know that God keeps track of all my sorrows and collects all my tears in his bottle. Not only that, but he records each one in his book! (Psalm 56:8)

It’s not like Bob and I were always together on Mondays. There were the Mondays when he was away on business and the Mondays when I had to go off to work and leave him at home. And whenever we were apart, he was always just a phone call away. Not so now. [Heavy sigh!] 

Today marks 100 Mondays since Bob left. This morning, I drank half my coffee from Bob’s mug, and as I was about to put it into the microwave to warm it up, it slipped from my hand, and the coffee went all over the place. I couldn’t believe I had dropped Bob’s precious mug! But do you know what? That mug is one tough mug. I am so thankful that it didn’t break. Not even a chip or a crack was added. Thank you, Jesus! 

As hard as these 100 weeks have been, I have discovered that, by God’s grace, I am stronger than I thought possible. Just like Bob’s ceramic mug.  

 I am not sure how long I will count the Mondays. Probably for as long as it brings comfort to my soul. I look forward to the day when I will enter into eternity, where there won’t be any more Mondays. But until then, I will embrace each Monday as the new beginning that it is. I am determined to live each Monday and the week that follows in the best way possible, all to the glory of God!