Sunday, February 14, 2010

White Doves Fly for The American Widow Project

A member of the White Dove Release Professionals was honored to provide memorial white dove releases at a very special event this past weekend.

A young lady from Texas named Taryn Davis started the American Widow Project after her husband was killed in Iraq when she was only 23 years old. Now Taryn travels all over the country to hold retreats for other widows who have lost their husbands in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan. They most recently held a retreat near Orlando, Florida, and included a white dove release ceremony in their plans.

Taryn arranged for the 12 widows to gather on a dock overlooking a lake. One at a time each widow stood in the front and either talked or read from a journal about her pain, and things she wanted to release. Then she was handed a white dove to release. Each one was so very emotional. None of the widows were more than 25 years old.

After each of the ladies finished releasing her dove they released one last bird as a group. They gathered in a semi-circle and each one reached over so they were touching the bird. Some were saying things like, "This is for you, Baby" or "I love you (followed by husband's name)". It was so incredible when they released that final bird together. This memorial white dove release brought a lot of tears, laughter, release and healing to these ladies. It was absolutely beautiful. As a side note, PBS is doing a special the weekend of Memorial Day about these ladies, and a camera man was there filming the release.




The above excerpt is quoted from the official American Widow Project website.