DEAR ABBY: My mother was killed in an automobile accident 11 years ago. A week after the funeral, I had to return to my home 1,000 miles away. For the first time in my father's life, he was living alone. I called him as often as I could, but it didn't lessen his loneliness.
Seven months later, at Christmas, my wife and I went to visit him. He asked us to invite a special woman friend of his to dinner. Though we didn't say anything, we were very upset. This would be our first Christmas without my mother. I couldn't believe my father would bring another woman into our lives so soon. So when Mary Jo arrived, I was prepared not to like her. However, within seconds my attitude changed.
Mary Jo, like my mother, is an artist. She walked around the house telling us how much she liked our mother's paintings. At the dinner table, she asked questions about Mom. We laughed when she told us stories about her sons -- and we cried when she shared the story of her husband, Bill, who had died of cancer.
Abby, that dinner was 10 years ago. Since then, Mary Jo and Dad have married and "blended" our two families. They are an inspiration to my wife and me. They honor their former partners by living their lives to the fullest. I wish everyone could learn from them. -- CHAMBERS STEVENS, LOS ANGELES
DEAR CHAMBERS: So do I. Your father was fortunate to have married two such gracious, talented and sensitive women.