I am constantly amazed at stories of how ordinary individuals are able to move past incredible personal loss and sorrow to move on and inspire others through songs, written word, build powerful ministries, each giving hope to the hopeless. One such story is about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, fondly known as “America’s poet.”
It was Christmas Day in 1863 when Henry Wadsworth Longfellow continued to grieve the death of his beloved second wife, Fannie, after her housedress caught fire. Longfellow tried to extinguish the flames with his own body, but Fannie succumbed to the accident. On December 1 of the same year, Henry received a telegram that his son had been shot during a battle of the Civil War. The wound put his son at risk of being paralyzed.
During his bereavement, worrying about all of his six children, Longfellow sat down to capture his feelings as he heard the bells ring that Christmas day, resulting in his poem titled, “Christmas Bells.” Many of us sing this popular hymn to this day.
