Through the Widow's Window

For Linda Crowley, the first day of the year had always been set aside to work on new, positive beginnings and 1970 was no different. Her husband and children were by all accounts healthy, and no one even considered the terrible thought that tragedy would strike before the day was over, and life as she had known it was gone. When their family of five gathered around the hearth table for breakfast, thirty-two-year-old Jack Crowley thanked God for their meal. It was a good beginning to a busy day and the family's last normal day for a long, long time. When a husband dies without a moment's notice, how does a mother explain to three young children their dad can no longer be there for them? During myriad low times, Linda prayed for the strength to move forward into a new and happier life. She clung to God's message, Come to Me, all who are weary and find life burdensome. I will refresh you. A few male visitors arrived with words like, "If you need anything you call me." The intonation was clear, but Linda's sixth sense assured her that if she surrounded her family with faith and nature, rather than needy men, she and her children would survive their sorrow. Entering the social world as a young widow was so depressing with one woman noting, "Don't you try to steal my husband." Years later, after a few rounds of happy and almost disastrous experiences with immature men, Linda met a carefree bachelor. Was she ready to share her now orderly life, and could a bachelor be happy with a ready-made family? Only time would tell.