Dorsey Design Services - My friend Steve.

God puts people in your life long before you know you’ll need them.

Our last season of hockey as a family of five brought new and closer friendships.

One man was a delight to get to know and Adam and I enjoyed talking to him.

He was wheelchair bound, which isn’t easy in a northern climate. Snow, ice, dicey roads and tons of travel for hockey, but he was never complaining.

His name was Steve. He’s a graphic designer and our sons were on the same team.

Fast forward a year later to a lost and driftless widow. Adam died in 2021, along with my career, and the life I knew and loved. In all my pain, I was writing. After discovering Adam’s extensive whiskey collection hidden around our house, The Whiskey Widow blog was born.

Even as the idea came, it felt silly. Why would I write now? What could I possibly share? I forged ahead and needed a logo, a website, a space to share whatever was on my heart.

Enter Steve. Again.

I saw him at the rink and told him I’d been writing. I asked if he’d be interested in helping make a logo and he came up with what you see here. It’s amazing. More beautiful than I’d hoped for. He is so good at what he does.

I’ll never forget the day I was supposed to meet Steve at a coffee shop to work on this project. I almost didn’t go. I felt silly thinking I needed a website now, in the middle of grief and single parenting. I thought about the effort it takes Steve to get anywhere and knew I couldn’t cancel. I showed up late and barely hanging on. Steve could tell.

He’d already put considerable effort into creating this site, but it didn’t matter. He was patient and gracious with his time. I was unsure about moving forward and felt like I had nothing to give. And so, I asked him, how did he go on after his world fell apart? When life as he knew it ceased to exist, what made him get up and become the happy, family man we enjoyed at the rink. Surely, his life was hard.

Steve was paralyzed playing hockey in high school. He had zero trouble sharing his story with me and we didn’t do any website work that day. He was such a kind friend. Talking when I couldn’t. Not disturbed by my tears. He would stop developing my website or continue on. It didn’t’ matter to him. He just wanted me to be okay.

We shared a common theme for those walking through the lows in life. It is only Jesus. Our faith has kept us both going. The small things. Time with a good friend. Reading the Bible. Prayer. I thrived on long walks listening to praise and worship. Asking God what is next. He continues to carry me and keeps putting the most amazing people in my path.

I’m forever grateful to Steve for helping me create some beauty out of the ashes of my life. You need logo development? A website? Branding? He’s your guy. Thanks Steve!