An early, undated photo of Charles David Shadwick and Florine Strickland Shadwick. (Contributed photo)When Charles David Shadwick and Florine Strickland Shadwick, better known as Bud and Flo, were faced with very serious health issues simultaneously, they physically became weaker, but their love remained as strong as ever.
Bud's health began to decline first as he faced small-cell lung cancer. Flo - who had yet to be diagnosed with her own cancer - prayed that she would die with her husband.
As the two fought their personal health battles side by side, hospice workers began to believe that Flo, 81, would indeed pass before her husband. However, Bud passed away at their home Dec. 17 at the age of 78.
"He was a wonderful man - passionate, caring, a hard worker, a good husband, a good father, a good neighbor and a good friend," said Flo, who is still fighting her way through stage 4 pancreatic cancer. "We were a very close family, and we still are. You just have to put family first, and that's what we do."
The Shadwicks faced serious illness together with unyielding love in their later years. (Contributed photo)"Family first" is a message Flo said she and Bud tried to instill in their children and grandchildren throughout the 51 years of their marriage. And while their family has been faced with hard times, they have also built memories and bonds stronger than any malignant tumor, said Cheri Shadwick Powers, one of the couple's five children.
"We've all chipped in and been there," Powers said. "We leave our homes and go stay there; clean; take care of them. We've all been together and stood by each other, and I guess them being the loving parents they've been is what's helped us to be what we've been for them through all these hard times."
Even as disease was rapidly setting in, their unrelenting love for one another was apparent, said Powers. Both heavy snorers, Bud and Flo often slept in different rooms, but when Flo became sick, Bud - already very sick himself, but still with the ability to walk to an extent - made his way across their home to his wife.
" ... He said, 'I'm going to your momma. She can't come to me, so I'm going to go to her,'" recounted Powers. "So they're lying there talking, and then the next thing I know, they had gone to sleep facing each other and holding hands. Momma was Daddy's inspiration; always."
A veteran of the U.S. Army and a man who fought to bring joy to those he loved until the day he passed, Flo said Bud's strength and caring heart remain a blessing.
"He was my mountain," she said. "He's the first man I ever loved. He's going to be missed very dearly."
Contact Sarah Turner at 423-757-6579.