Arnie came into my life by some probable divine intervention, at a time when I was lost and going through a major transition.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to have endured it without him.

With Arnie, I was allowed to be weak, to cry, to vent, to work through all my trials, and he seemed to pass just as all my woes ended.  It is as if he knew I was now strong enough to live life to the fullest, with just his memory and that I no longer needed his physical being to inspire me and keep me going.

We used to speak on the phone a minimum of five times daily and often more than that.  We watched "Will and Grace" together on the phone - he in Houston and I in New York.  We recognized ourselves; he was my "Will" and I, his "Grace".  He had an intelligence that constantly challenged and enlightened me.  He had a vocabulary that only Websters Dictionary could rival.  There were so many times that we finished each other's sentences.

And oh, how we laughed.

Arnie was an absolute rock.  He never whined, even during radiation for his cancer and even through 2 pacemaker surgeries he always had an incredible way of taking care of me.  He laughed and joked through all of his pain and always tried to turn the concern I had for him to taking care of me.  He was a selfless individual,  a liberal with the heart of a lamb and the strength of a stallion.

His last few days, thankfully, were spent in deep sleep without pain and, finally, he died peacefully.  For myself, I will have to learn to deal with never hearing him call me his precious angel again, but it is more important that when he got too tired to fight, he decided to sleep.

Below is a song by Robbie Williams that says just what Arnie was and will always be to me.  We both agreed that we were soulmates.  I will hold him in my heart forever.