By Jordyn Redwood

At the time I was getting married, I was living in the suburbs south of Kansas City, KS. I hadn’t grown up in Kansas and in fact one time boldly proclaimed that I would never live there. It’s not that I had anything against Kansas per se—other than the flat lands and humidity. Of course, God and His sense of humor had to prove me wrong and it was the first place I was able to find a nursing job—far away from the family and friends I had known in Colorado.

Now, I had friends in Kansas City but they were not the close, endearing friends that I had grown up with. All of my bridesmaids were out of state: Colorado, Wyoming, Illinois, and Texas. Seriously, could I have spread them further apart?

Because of this distance, these close friends of my youth didn’t really get to be a part of the normal wedding preparations like wedding dress shopping and making scrapbooks (there was no Pinterest then) of ideas for decorations and centerpieces.

Also, only two of four of my bridesmaids really knew one another, but we agreed to get together the night before my wedding for a shower at a local hotel after the rehearsal dinner.

I will never forget what those girls did. They gave me what they called a “Blessing Shower”. To this day, I haven’t heard of this being given to other brides, but I think it would be awesome to replace the “normal” bridal shower (as in gifting of lingerie and other things) with this concept.

Each of my friends shared a very poignant letter of how I had blessed each of them in their lives. It was emotionally overwhelming but so touching. Certain instances where I did things for them that I never considered important ended up being significant events to them for different reasons. I honestly was surprised at how significant some of these moments were for them and having them share that with me became a profound moment in my life.

I think we don’t do this enough—just take a person close to us, sit them down, and tell them face to face what they mean to us.

We need to stop reserving these words and moments just for funerals.

Jordyn Redwood is a pediatric ER nurse by day, suspense novelist by night. She hosts Redwood’s Medical Edge, a blog devoted to helping contemporary and historical authors write medically accurate fiction. Her first two novels, Proof and Poison, garnered starred reviews from Library Journal. Proof was shortlisted for the 2012 ForeWord Review’s BOTY Award, 2013 INSPY Award and the 2013 Carol Award. Her latest novel, Fractured Memory, released July, 2016. You can connect with Jordyn via Facebook, Twitter,Pinterest and her website.

Fractured Memory

United States marshal Eli Cayne saved Julia Galloway’s life once…and he’s prepared to do it again. But his task would be easier if she could remember him—or the murderer who almost put her in an early grave and seems to be hunting her once more. To protect Julia from the latest threat against her life, Eli has to consider the possibility that he put an innocent man in jail. Julia has no memories of the serial killer called the Hangman, though, and no reason to trust Eli. But with the killer getting closer, she must work with Eli to confront her past—and the feelings growing between them.