Sandra Douglas Nichols, owner/operator of AWOA Creative Crafts in Climax, and Valentine lady for the area, made her annual trip to visit the Widow Ladies on Feb. 14.
Sandra called on some 30 to 35 ladies from Climax, Whigham, Bainbridge, Attapulgus and even Cairo, with Climax having the largest number show up. Ladies in Climax were: Ann Ariail, Bonnie Maloy, Fannie Wells, Marilyn Dodson, Ella Mae Jackson, Mattie Wade, Inez Heard, Christine Patterson, Patricia McBride, Patty Barnwell, Mary Cooper, and Nolie Croft.
She was unable to deliver a candy heart to Brenda Bush and Annie Doris Flowers. She brought the same message to all: “You are loved.”
With a heart box of candy, she met Ann Ariail as the first one in Climax. “Ms. Ann, you are loved, even if your loved one is no longer with us,” she said. To which a smiling Ms. Ann replied, “Oh, thank you, Sandra. God Bless you. We love you, too.”
This labor of love, as Sandra calls it, began a few years ago with a small number of ladies who had lost their husbands.
She said, “I felt a calling something I must do, I just felt these special ladies need someone to tell them they were still loved so I bought candy hearts and went to see them.”
Sandra visits all ethnicities, black, white and Hispanic. She takes the same message wherever she goes. These ladies are loved by her and by God.
The love is returned double fold by these widows as is evident by the smiles on their faces as they give Sandra a hug and return her love. If we could all have the spirit of Valentine’s all year through spreading love as we travel along, wouldn’t it be a better world?