As a young single mother, Melody strove to trust again after a series of heartbreaks. But when she met Mike, everything changed. Through twenty-three years of marriage, Melody and Mike loved and supported one another. Mike's sudden death at age fifty was a devastating loss.
Melody struggles, as all bereaved spouses do, to make sense of a world that seems at the same time frightfully wide-open and excruciatingly constricting. She's lost her best friend, partner, and lover. She knows such a love comes only once in a lifetime. How can Melody find the strength to carry on and rebuild?
Melissa Simmons's heartbreaking but ultimately uplifting story of one woman's painful road back to life after the loss of her soul mate is based on her own experiences with sudden widowhood. Her late husband always said she should write a book, but as a busy wife and mother, she never found the time. In the wake of his death, she took to writing with the aim of helping others overcome similar obstacles.
Forever and Always, however, isn't just about grief and moving on; it's about celebrating a beautiful, joyous life-one that Simmons feels eternally grateful to have lived.
About the Author: Melissa Simmons grew up in a close-knit family on an Illinois dairy farm. She started adulthood as a single mother, but she found a life partner-and her young son found a father-in her husband, Andy. They raised two children and shared a blissful life together until Andy's sudden death at age fifty.
Her husband had always encouraged her to write a book, but not until after his passing did she find true inspiration. She wrote Forever and Always as a testament to their relationship and as a means of reaching out to other grieving spouses.
Simmons holds an associate degree in computer programming, and she has worked in retail and as a real estate agent. She currently lives in a small rural community with her two dogs, Dottie and Maxwell, and enjoys spending time with her children and grandchildren.
