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Family delivers roses to widows on Valentine's Day
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A Missouri couple has high hopes to bring love and happiness to widows and widowers on Valentine's Day.
Jimmy and Cynthia Chouteau started the nonprofit organization Widow Wednesdays in the Kansas City area five years ago.
Jimmy, a 37-year-old life insurance agent, first started requesting Wednesdays off from his job to help older people he worked with complete small household repairs like painting and yard work. He and his wife later began delivering special packages including sweet treats, cards and flowers on holidays.
"I'd noticed that a lot of my elderly clients seemed lost about what to do about repairs after their spouses died," Jimmy told People. "So I started taking Wednesdays off to do handyman jobs for them. From there, the idea just grew. Now we have more than 100 volunteers to do everything from ripping up carpet, changing light bulbs and raking leaves to deliver a hot, home-cooked meal."
The Chouteaus also enlist the help of three of their children, aged 7 to 11, to help make and deliver cards, hugs and long-stemmed roses.
"My kids have about 50 extra grandmas because of all the widows we're now close to," Cynthia said. "This has become a ministry for us – we don't want anyone to feel forgotten. Women tell us all the time that about a month or two after their husbands pass away, everybody goes back to their lives and they don't hear from or see anyone after that."
"It's important at a time when they're hurting to bring them a hug and a personal message," she added. "A lot of times, they'll cry because they're so happy that we came to see them."
During the Christmas season, the Chouteaus help organize caroling and gift basket deliveries. They also host a "Widow's Day" banquet each summer, to which they invite instructors from a local dance studio to teach the women – and a few men – some new moves.
"We'd love nothing more than to start a movement and get other other people across the country to adopt a widow or widower in their lives," Jimmy said. "We all know them, so why not reach out to them? It takes such little effort, but the rewards are so great. I can't tell you how many times I've driven away from helping someone with tears streaming down my face. There's no place I'd rather be every Wednesday than helping them out."
"We'd love nothing more than to start a movement and get other other people across the country to adopt a widow or widower in their lives," Jimmy said. "We all know them, so why not reach out to them? It takes such little effort, but the rewards are so great. I can't tell you how many times I've driven away from helping someone with tears streaming down my face. There's no place I'd rather be every Wednesday than helping them out."
