From widower to Father

On New Jersey priest Father Ed Blanchett's home page, there is a tribute to "A Very Special Person." As I happened across his Web site this afternoon, I clicked on the link expecting to read a tribute to someone close to him who passed on — perhaps one of his parents or a brother or sister.

I did not expect to read a beautiful tribute to his late wife, whose passing at 45 of acute leukemia will be ten years ago next week (All Saints Day).

"Mary taught me to enjoy life to the fullest and to fight the adversities that are thrown at us with all of one's strength," Father Blanchett writes. "When that has been done and we are called back to God, it is possible to depart with grace, peace and inner confidence. My life has been greatly enriched by knowing her, and it's a result of her example and the strength that was given to me in my hours of need that have placed me on the road to serving God's people. How can I accept His strength (as I had put it at the time, 'I could feel Him holding me with both arms') and not want to show others how to draw from that same strength?"

Read the whole tribute. If you would like to let Father Blanchett know that your thoughts and prayers are with him as the anniversary of his wife's passing approaches, his e-mail address and a contact form are on his home page.