Occasionally readers will send me news stories about widowers. For Widower Wednesday I’ve decided to post and comment on two of the more interesting ones as well as an upcoming TV show.
First a story for those who have to deal with widowers who make frequent trips to the cemetery, here’s one from Alabama.
Jim Davis leaves no doubt about his willingness to do whatever it takes to honor his wife's dying wish.
Shortly before she died in April 2009 at the age of 66, Patsy Davis let it be known she wanted to be buried in the yard of the rural northeastern Alabama house where the couple raised their five children.
So that's exactly where Jim Davis laid his wife of "48 years, one month and four days" to rest, even though the city council in Stevenson denied him permission to do it.
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After his wife died, Davis picked out a spot in the front yard and applied to the county health department for the necessary approval. The department ran hydrological tests as required by law and granted his request.
Davis then sought permission from the city council. The council said no.
Davis said he's the kind of person who doesn't "take no for an answer." One morning soon after the council's refusal, he rented a backhoe and dug the plot anyway.
Read the full story at Yahoo! News.
Apparently burying people in one’s yard is legal in Alabama. If so, then I fully support Mr. Davis’ right to bury his wife in his front yard. Such an action, however, may deter any chances for a serious relationship if he decides to date again.
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On a happier note, here’s proof that widowers can move on again and that the former in-laws can even be supportive of the widower and his new love.
The Connecticut doctor who survived a horrific home invasion that left his two daughters and wife dead remarried on Sunday.
William Petit wed his girlfriend, 34-year-old photographer Christine Paluf, in Simsbury, Conn., and family spokesman Rick Healey told the Associated Press that about 300 people attended the ceremony. The couple had been seeing each other since the summer of 2011, People magazine reported, and they met while Paluf was volunteering for the Petit Family Foundation.
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The family of Petit’s late wife gave the couple their blessings. According to People, the family met Paluf in September 2011, at a birthday party for Petit. When Cindy Hawke-Renn, the sister of Petit’s late wife, learned on New Year’s Eve that they were engaged, she said she was thrilled for the couple. She added that her sister would have been too. “She would have only wished the best for him,” Hawke-Renn said. “That’s just how she was.”
Read the rest at Today and thanks to Kristen for the tip.
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Finally, there’s a new show, Go On, that is showing a preview episode after the Olympics tonight. Matthew Perry plays a radio talk show host who recently lost his wife and is ordered by his boss to undergo therapy. The previews look promising and assuming the show has staying power, I’m guessing they’re eventually going to have the Perry character start dating the lady who runs the therapy sessions.
The show is on too late for me to watch live but I’ll record it and see if it’s any good. If any readers happen to catch the show, I’d be curious as to your thoughts.
You can watch two previews of the show below.
We had hopes that we’d be ready to move into our new home this coming weekend. ‘Tis not to be. The construction is running, as of now, about a week behind schedule. But things should have picked up again yesterday and are scheduled to be completed next Tuesday. Assuming that the inspection and everything else goes as planned our tentative closing date is now August 17. That means at least one extra week with the in-laws.