JUST WRIGHT CITRUS
  • Home
  • Just Blogs
  • About
  • One for All

It's 60 and going strong for my Deb

7/25/2024

 
Picture
This is an easy blog that I agonized for hours to get just right.

Today’s subject won’t be surprised by the attention. We talked about it some to know ahead of time what I can get away with.

There’s much to unpack here, as you’ll see in a minute.

My Deb turns 60 today (Friday). And she is thrilled.

Let me tell you a little about her.

Deb Kamlot-Wright moved from Long Island to Citrus County with her then-husband and two sons to be closer to her mother and aunt, who lived in Citrus Hills. She was hired as the human resources director at the Chronicle, where I worked in the newsroom.

Our paths rarely crossed. I knew from company meetings that Deb was into community stuff, and I attended some of those same events as a reporter. Other than that, no connection.

I wrote a blog last year about how we met, and I eventually wore her down to the point where it was either date me or get the law involved.

I fell hard for Deb. I’d see her out in the community, so engaging, helpful, and caring. Co-workers and organization volunteers alike delight in her company. She worked hard at the Chronicle; sometimes, I went with her for late-night visits to the mailroom where she’d drop in for someone’s birthday or to say hi. 

What most people didn’t know was Deb also worked equally hard raising two sons. It wasn’t easy, but she never wavered.

I often told Deb, “There’s no doubt who's the mother of those boys.”

Today her sons are respectful, hard-working adults following in their mother’s footsteps. Deb’s oldest, Matthew, shares his mother’s birthday; Matt is 25 today.

We married in December 2015, and life was bliss the first three years. We couldn’t get enough of one another. We went everywhere together. I was so attracted to her presence.

Then an event took place in July 2019 that would put into place a series of challenges, each more difficult than the one before. It eventually placed Deb in a position where she had to make a very difficult choice.

In January 2021, we separated for the first time. Deb moved to Citrus Springs, I stayed in Inverness, and somehow, the marriage didn’t disintegrate. Because I’m selfish to the extreme, I often forget how difficult that was for her. Deb made a call not based on spite or indifference, but rather love. 

We stayed in this separated but married state for two years. I guess it was better than divorce, but overall, a yucky time. I prayed for an end.

And it came! We were reunited back first at the little cabin, and then the New Just Wright Citrus World Headquarters on the shores of Big Lake Henderson.

We realized in March, however, that we’re still not right. Not as a couple, not as individuals. God has work to do.

Meanwhile my wife is taking charge of something that’s weighed on her mind for years.

Deb has long known she’d eventually need dialysis for kidney failure. We put it off as long as possible. She also knew that when it came to that, she wanted the at-home variety to do dialysis at night while she slept.

All of that has happened in the last month or two. She’s started the dialysis, was trained on the at-home, and is now doing that on her own.

This woman is my wife, friend, confidante, and the first person I think of in a jam. Deb feels similar about me. We are trying to figure out this stage of our lives with an emphasis on kindness and compassion toward one another. We’re not where we want to be. We’re light years ahead of where we were.

On Thursday we went to Tampa Airport to pick up Deb’s oldest friend, Andrea, who came in from Long Island. We’ll converge all Friday with Deb’s sons and their significant others for a dinner to celebrate this extraordinary woman.

(Drop her a line at [email protected].)

At 60, my wife is thriving. Deb loves Jesus, her family, and this community. We’re fortunate to count her among our own.

Please join me in wishing Deb a blessed birthday.

Have a beautiful weekend, friends.

​
Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Enjoying the blog? Please consider supporting it at Venmo, PayPal, or 
Patreon.



Comments are closed.

    Author

    Mike Wright has written about Citrus County government and politics for 37 years.

    Picture
    Picture
    Mike Bays State Farm Ad - Click to visit!
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Kovach Law Ad - Click to visit!
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Kinnard Chiropractic Ad - Click to visit!
    Picture

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021

Home

Today's Blog

About

Just Wright Citrus Logo
 Copyright © 2022
Created by Joshua Brunk and Noah Breder
  • Home
  • Just Blogs
  • About
  • One for All