A Woman in Winter

by Cheryl Merrick

Shut in her home,
the woman huddles
in her ever darkening room.
Cold and lonely, 
she spends her days lost in viewing 
old photo albums and scrapbooks;
memories of summer;
a time when she basked 
in the warmth of having
her husband and young children
surrounding her; needing her. 

Now it is winter,
her husband, long dead,
has left her to continue alone.
Her children, now grown and far away,
have little time to spend with her
for they are busily raising their children
and enjoying their own summer.


Seeing others with their families,
only intensifies her pain and loneliness.
Empty, each day crawls along, 
and each night stretches out
into interminable darkness,
leaving her to cry, 
"How could you have all left me?"

Then a voice softly calls to her, 
"I have always been with you
 and will never leave you."
And so the Savior's love
begins to thaw her heart frozen in time,
allowing her to rejoice in 
her children's independence,
and enabling her to reach out 
to those around her 
who need her love.