I have named this blog c2.lewallens.com as I have started a new chapter in my life. My previous family log's last entry was the one about Alice's surgery, hospitalization, and death. There will be some of you reading this who will not know anything beyond 4 Apr 2024. Let me bring you up to date.
In Jan 2025, I was at rest with being a widower. I felt I had won the life lottery with Alice. I was grateful to the Lord for His presence and provision for me during the first year without Alice. I was at rest with my situation and was not pursuing any romantic relationships.
At the Jan 2025 retreat, I ran into Esther Weston. I knew her vaguely, as Alice and Esther had traveled together for a Wellspring retreat in 2015. She talked with me after a facilitator meeting expressing her condolences for Alice's death and shared about her journey with her husband of 33 years leaving her. I was not closely paying attention to her and did not respond in any way, acknowloging what she had said. I realized what I had done and sought her out the next day to apologize and commit to making a time to talk on the phone where I would engage with what she shared with me.
That conversation happened on 16 Feb. We wound up talking for 5.5 hours.. We talked again on 23 Feb and talked for 3.5 hours. We talked on the 24th and have talked every day since. Clearly, something was happening between us. We were both totally unprepared for this experience. She was escaping an abusive marriage and I already had the best marriage that could be had. It seems like the Lord had other plans. After only phone conversations, we concluded on 6 March that we were in love with each other. We needed to meet in person and chose to rendezvous' at Thomasville, GA. We survived meeting in person and resumed our pattern of talking, talking for the whole weekend.
As you can see from this picture, there is an age gap between us. It turns out I was more concerned about it than Esther and we both concluded that we wer not going to bail on the relational and spiritual alignment we had experienced.
We continued our long distance relationship (she lives in FL) with trips to Alaska and England. She was in Birmingham on 31 Aug shen I asked her to marry me and she said, "Yes!"
We had a small wedding with just our children and grandchildren on 22 Nov 25. You can go this link to check out the photos.
Esther has moved to Birmingham where we currently live.
This is a very abbreviated synopsis of the last year. Please feel free to reach if you want more details.
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