My brother went to be with Jesus last week. In just five short weeks he went from being a healthy husband, father, Papa and brother to fighting for his life against Covid. Many of you have prayed with us for God to heal him. God answered our prayers by giving him the ultimate healing, but we are still numb, not sure what happened.

My heart is broken. Seeing my sister-in-law and her children and grandchildren grapple with their new life without him is painful. There is nothing we can do or say to make it better. The only way through this is moving forward, one painful step at a time.

I am grateful we have no regrets other than no more time together in this life.

– They were married 42 years like us.

– They got married 5 weeks after us.

– We had children together and…

– We lived in the same area for all but 15 months of our married lives.

Tom loved my brother as his own. Being strong for me is more challenging when we’re both grieving. But he has certainly been my rock. Most of the time he has simply held me and let me cry.

Billy was a great brother, and we are grateful we will be together again one day. But he leaves behind a big hole.

We have no guarantees how many years we’ll share before “death do us part.” But we can be there for each other through all life sends our way; whether it’s sickness, health, richer, poorer, better times or worse times. Give your spouse the space, love and support they need when struggling. If not you, then who? It’s the reason we made vows to begin with, and it’s how we are called to care for a broken heart.