Part of the architecture of a seaside house of past centuries has been a widows walk (or watch), a high
place where women watched for their husbands’ return to harbor in a time when seafaring was more
dangerous. It’s an appropriate name for a ministry that mutually encourages those who know every
step of that difficult walk and helps to prepare those who haven’t yet experienced the loss of a spouse.

I was widowed in late 2020 at age 49 after 27.5 years of marriage and moved that next year to the MOV
to be near my adult kids and newborn grandson. Already having ministered for 23 years at a small
church in upstate New York, I began work at the 36 th Street Church of Christ and started a widowhood
ministry with a woman who had lost her husband in 2016. We were married in August 2022 and
together have (in what sounds like a song …) five adult kids, four barking dogs, three grandkids, two
answered prayers … and a heart for widowed people.

Loneliness is the greatest struggle that those in our situation often face … so we want a vibrant group
that can help each other honor our pasts and understand what we’re going through as well as return
some joy to our lives—because we’ve got a lot of living yet to do!

Doug Kashorek