Page 20 - Winter 2021

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.”
For Bishop resident Nedra Johnson, there could not be a truer statement.
Nedra was married to her husband Sid for 59 years. Together, they had four children and six grandchildren. They had a home filled with memories, and Nedra was looking forward to fully enjoying the life they had built together. But after a short battle with lymphoma in 2015, Nedra lost her husband and soul mate. Her life changed forever.
For many of us, getting older means life slows down. Our priorities change,
By Wendy Jackson
Photos courtesy of Nedra Johnson
and we have time to travel and spend with our families. We have time to do all of the projects we set aside while we worked and raised children.
We start to wonder what it is we want our days to look like from this point forward, and we look toward those Golden Years with anticipation and a sense of excitement. We rarely stop to think that it could be taken from us in the blink of an eye.
But at 75 years old, Nedra found herself without a partner. Despite a large family and countless friends to surround her with love, she was feeling adrift. She continued visiting friends, working
around her home and volunteering with the organizations she belonged to. But at the end of the day, she still returned to an empty house. Suddenly, she found the prospect of her Golden Years ahead daunting.
Studies have shown that widowhood can have a negative impact on both mental and physical health in the surviving spouse. Nedra admits to having felt like so many widows do—that her life essentially ended when she lost her husband. But in her heart, she knew that was not what Sid would have wanted for her either.
After some time, Nedra heard that her
sWendy Jackson is a freelance writer and photographer in Watkinsville, Ga. She is also a Realtor. PAGE 18 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | WINTER 2021
Nedra Johnson and Owens Smith married on Nov. 3, 2018, in a barn at the homestead of their friend Lisa Douglas.