Juanita Jenkins:  

After graduation in 1975, I took some classes at UTA, then began working at a J&J company. I married Richard Boyd in 1978 and we adopted a beautiful daughter in 1981. We bought some acreage and moved to Kaufman, Texas soon after. In 1990 my husband became ill and we moved back to the metroplex. I began working at Tarrant County College where I worked for 15 years. In April 2006, my husband Rick died after being ill for a very long time, two days before our 28th anniversary. My now 26 year old daughter and I were devastated. My family and a few close friends were wonderful through this time. A few months after Rick passed away, I was searching for help in dealing with being a widow at 49 years old and traveling on the journey of grief. God led me to an on-line grief support group, Griefnet.org. I didn't know if it would be helpful but decided to try it out. The group I joined was for widows and widowers. I found the most compassionate and encouraging people there. I was amazed that I could bond and become friends with people that I had not met in person, people scattered all over the US and sometimes further. The majority of the friends I met there had lost their spouses about a year before and many were around my age. It helped knowing others were having the same feelings and dealing with the same issues. During the next year, several left the group to "move on" with their lives. It made me both happy and sad to see them leave the group. Along with 5 or 6 special women I became close to, there were two very nice men. Jerry Jenkins was one of them. He was a great writer and I always enjoyed his encouraging words and compassionate support. Jerry was married almost 23 years to Roni, a wonderful woman who unfortunately developed MS early in their marriage. This was a very debilitating and long illness where Jerry lovingly cared for her until she died in September 2005. Jerry left the suppor...Expand for more