Jim Cadle recently lost his wife to a brief illness and now his wedding band is missing.
Hopefully one of our readers may have found his ring — please call or email me if you did.
Jim and Rosemary were married some 50 years and made a difference in making the world a better place wherever they went from the schools where Rosemary taught children to law enforcement where Jim served the families who would let him help.
Cadle who once served as a Tracy police officer, then a practicing attorney and finally a San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge loved his wife as much as she loved him — it was obvious when they were together.  Having known the couple for some 40 years,  I was surprised to see him leaving Doctors Hospital one day while I was sitting in the lobby enjoying my morning coffee.
With a measure of concern, I stopped him and asked who he was visiting.  Was it Rosemary?  With a slight frown, he confirmed my suspicions, soon returning to be at his wife’s bedside.  I waited about five minutes until I had finished my coffee and saw a decorative pot of long stemmed, red, silk rose buds outside the Pink Ladies’ gift shop.
I took one of the roses and walked to her room where I found her sitting in a recliner next to her bed with Jim sitting on the other side reading the newspaper.  At first glance she looked very ill — immediately, recognizing me and spotting that simple rose.  She exploded into that wonderful Rosemary smile so many people had seen so many times on the street and came to expect and appreciate.  She had a deep love and appreciation for her fellow man.  It chokes me up just thinking about that last day, but at least I let her recognize my concern, respect and love for her.
You see, she could see a friend a block away and she would start raising and waving her arms and calling their name.  In just crossing her path, she would make my day. What a wonderful person — a wonderful couple.  I didn’t stay too long that day and when I went back to visit again, she had been allowed to go home.  She was soon back in a bed at Doctors, needing the support of additional medical care.
It was a day or two later that I found she was in Intensive Care Unit, having more tests undertaken.  Jim and I stood outside her ICU room and chatted about the love of his life for about 10 minutes before it was obvious it was time for me to leave.  It wasn’t long before her passing was made public and I knew my friend was gone with her exceptional spirit living on through her children.
Now Jim has lost his wedding band in either Costco or Target’s parking lot.  It has several inset diamonds, her daughter Stacey told me today.  The family searched the parking lots at length and found nothing. She said it is obviously not the monetary value to her dad, but rather a measure of her love — a great sentimental value to him for the measure of his love for Rosemary.