Intersection Column | Unexpected Blessings

by Shelley Shepard Gray

Right when I least expected it, my husband and I celebrated our thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Thirty-five years is a long time! Since I met my guy, Tom, when I was seventeen, it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve been “one half” of a couple for a very long time. I’m blessed. Beyond blessed! Truly, I can’t imagine life without Tom. But, every once in a blue moon, I wonder what life would be like if I were suddenly alone.

Full disclosure: this usually happens when we’re doing taxes or he’s filling me in on various insurance and investment accounts. My eyes kind of glaze over and my brain goes fuzzy. I make things up for a living. Writing stories isn’t all that easy, but I’d much rather be stressing about sentences, characters, and plot points instead of anything that happens in the “real world.” I’m thrilled that my husband is the one who makes sure all the bills are paid on time. Actually, I’m not quite that helpless, but I am always grateful that he and I divided up household chores many  years ago.

All this means that whenever I do imagine living life on my own, it feels a little scary. If something did happen to Tom, I think I’d lean heavily on the support of family and friends. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way. Honestly, I’d probably lean on a supportive group of women friends a lot if I was suddenly alone. Would I be anxious to get married again? I don’t think so.

All of this was behind the inspiration for the Amish Widows Club, my new series with Revell. I liked imagining a group of widows of all different ages forming a secret, not-so-secret club. For some members, the club would simply be an extension of their already broad group of friends. The monthly meetings would be a time to catch up on their lives and deepen their friendships. For other women, it might be a lifeline in a difficult, lonely, sad time of their lives. A terrific support system as they redesign the next part of their lives.

It would be a welcome break from feeling pressured to marry again, for one reason or another. I thought even Amish widows would feel that way from time to time.

However, because I write romances, I knew that each heroine in the trilogy was going to meet someone who messed up all those well-intentioned plans. Someone unexpected.

So, that is how I came up with Leanna’s story in The Unexpected Caller. My forty-year-old widow is determined to live life on her own until a man and his family show her that maybe it is still possible to have hope, dreams, and happiness a second time. And, in Leanna’s case, it might even be a relationship that’s better than the one before. That would be unexpected, too.

I hope you’ll join me in celebrating women who not only learn to find comfort in love and marriage, but with good friends . . . and with themselves. And if, by chance, you’re motivated to start your own not-so-secret club with a group of friends, don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.

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About the Author

Shelley Shepard Gray is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 100 books, including Unshaken, Unforgotten, and Unforgiven. Two-time winner of the HOLT Medallion and finalist for both the Christy and the Carol Awards, Gray lives in Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail. Learn more at ShelleyShepardGray.com.

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About the Book

Leanna Mast never imagined she'd be a widow at forty-one, but it seems God had other plans. When she's invited to join the Amish Widows Club, she discovers a place of belonging she didn't even know she needed. In this group of women who support one another, Leanna is sure her life as a widow will bring her the fulfillment she craves . . . until handsome, kind Evan Keim comes calling.