This Blog Is One Year Old Today!

Dear Reader,

Here's the post that started it all off, and what a joy it has been ever since to meet to many widows, hear their amazing stories and see how the Lord sustains and encourages them through dark, dark days. We'll rewind some of the year's highlights this week and next, and if WCP has been a good companion for your journey through grief this year, I hope you'll drop me a line to say hello.

Also, please click on The Memorial Wall at the top of the page and see that you're not alone. It'd be an honor to add your listing. Feel free to use it to mark the day your life changed forever. Today being Valentines Day might be a good way to signify the day. We're all in this together and The Wall is a great reminder and you can copy it off and pray for other widows and their families. I just added a new name today, someone with a wedding anniversary this month, so check back frequently for updates.

♥ ferree

The Day Life Changed Forever

(originally posted Feb. 15, 2010) 

Ten years ago this very day I woke up thinking it'd be like any other day, but I was a widow by suppertime. It's hard to believe it's been ten years. On one hand it seems like only yesterday, on the other it's like another lifetime. I was in the kitchen making a salad for supper.

"When's dinner?" Bruce asked.


Here's a "before" picture with me, the dog,
and Bruce on the top step.
Brooke, Brad and Lisa in front of us.    

I told him we could have it whenever he wanted. We checked the time, talked about the schedule for the rest of the day, and decided he had time for a little weight-lifting workout downstairs. He gave me a hug--a deep, send-my-soul-to-the-stars sort of hug. It wrapped around eternity and intertwined pretty colors, sparkles and spirals all around me. I loved my husband, my kids, my life . . .


He went down to the basement, I heard a strange yell from him a few minutes later. I found him laying down on the floor--thought he was playing a joke on me.

But it wasn't a joke. My kids called 911, the squad came, the police came. They sent us upstairs. Carried Bruce out on a stretcher . . . a doctor met us in that "Quiet Room" at the hospital. (Don't ever go in there).

Life changed forever that day. Widowhood was nothing like I expected. The pain was so deep it was frightening; and then it went deeper still, to a place where tears watered tiny, dried up seeds of joy and strength. They grow well in the dark. You can't see them at first, can't imagine they'll ever appear . . .

That's what we'll talk about in this blog. The day it happened for you, the darkness, the seeds of faith that look pretty measly, the strength, the joy. Plus the practical, the realities, the help . . .

Welcome to Widows Christian Place!

I'd love to hear from you. Can I ask a favor? With this week's one year blog anniversary and also my birthday happening, could everyone shout out their name and state or country? 
Or how about this: Did you make a Valentine Box and have a Valentines Party when you were little? Think back real hard and try to remember, or share a memory of your favorite Valentine from your husband.
Hearing from each of you would make my day and my birthday this week! Click on the comment line, it's pretty easy. I'll authenticate it as soon as I can so don't worry if you don't see it right away.
Thanks for following this blog! May God bless you, and have a day of sweet memories.

♥ ferree