Monday, 07 April 2008
The Walker Family
By Nancy Leitz
Alice and Charlie Walker were neighbors of ours who had three children who went to school with our kids.
In 1975, Alice and Charlie decided to divorce. Alice stayed in the family home with the children and Charlie took an apartment nearby so he could see the kids all the time.
In 1978, Charlie suffered a stroke and died shortly thereafter.
Alice was now free to marry the man she had been seeing for two years, Bill. So, Bill moved into the family home and although it took a while until the family jelled, when they did settle in they became a real family. The children loved Bill and felt they were given a second dad.
Tragically, in 1980, Alice died in an accident so the children were again bereaved but they still had Bill to care for them. They got through the funeral and again picked up their lives in the care of their loving step-father and continued living in the family home and going to the same schools. Their lives had a great deal of stability due to Bill's loving care.
But, Bill was lonely for companionship and soon met Nora. She was warily welcomed by the kids who by now were teenagers, but had been through so many changes in their lives that they were not as cautious as they might have been about making a step mom of Nora.
Nora had never married and yet took on the role of Mom to kids she barely knew because she loved Bill and thought she would learn to love the kids. Well, that part came true. They were one big happy family as the kids grew up and went off college.
Then in 1998, Bill was diagnosed with cancer and Nora and the kids saw him through chemotherapy and radiation treatments, but in the end he died. The kids were devastated. He had been their dad all those years. Through thick and thin, he was at every sporting event they were involved in and at every chorus or school play you could bet on it that Bill would be there.
Now two of those kids are married and have children of their own and Nora is their Grandma. She still lives in the family home and has never remarried. The children all stayed nearby and visit Nora all the time.
This is the kind of love story I like!
[If you are interested in contributing to The Elder Storytelling Place, the guidelines are here. We would all be pleased to read your stories.]
Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post
Comments
Nancy you are a walking encyclopedia of stories. This is another wonderful example.
Posted by: Grannymar on Apr 7, 2008 9:03:02 AM
Grannymar, that certainly is a rare and wonderful story to tell; though very tragic that the children lost three of their parents. Your story highlights so succinctly that what is important is the mothering, fathering, parenting, and not unnecessarily who owns the title of mother, father, and parent.
Posted by: lilalia on Apr 7, 2008 9:58:28 AM
Nancy, that is a whole bevy of love stories, and the kids were the winners!!
Posted by: kenju on Apr 7, 2008 10:23:52 AM
It's truly incredible that before one parent died they found a replacement first. And a beautiful story about relationships that work. It seems that fate had a big hand in this story.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Darlene on Apr 7, 2008 10:37:37 AM
Dear Nancy........that's a magic story. Thank you.
Posted by: Mage Bailey on Apr 7, 2008 4:09:17 PM
Everyone, including the kids, showed such depth and maturity. I'm impressed by them all.
Posted by: Travelinoma on Apr 7, 2008 6:46:32 PM
Thank you to everyone who commented on this story.
I appreciate your reading it and making such nice comments about it.
The Walkers were, and are, a wonderful family.
Posted by: Nancy on Apr 7, 2008 6:58:08 PM
This is the kind of love story I like too Nancy...and the kind that stays inside your heart. Thanks so much. Sorry I'm such a late comer....but I really love your stories....
Posted by: Joy on Apr 9, 2008 3:05:19 PM
