I’m Willis Moore, a retired United Methodist minister living in Atlanta, Georgia. I love to write, especially if it helps, cheers, or evokes laughter for someone. Though this blog began in 2020, I have been writing for decades. My work has previously appeared in a college newspaper weekly column (“Moore or Less”), church bulletin covers, city newspaper columns, a 25-year humor column (“Homer Heardmore” in the Wesleyan Christian Advocate, at the time the official Georgia UMC weekly newspaper), Warner Robins Daily Journal (Book Editor), The Upper Room devotional magazine, Church Leader magazine, the Upper Room Disciplines book of devotional meditations for church leaders, The Sunday School Teacher magazine, and some “ghost-written” articles for Elementary school children’s curriculum.
This Blog is to offer Joy for the Journey to my readers and a clandestine trajectory for the healing of my heart. Now for the birth of fridayswithwillis.com ; When Paige, my late wife, was diagnosed with Corticobasal Ganglianic Degeneration, (a rare form of Parkinson’s Disease) I began writing what I called “Weekly UPdates”(UP–is intentionally capitalized to indicate Paige’s positive outlook.) to our family, friends, colleagues, and members of churches we served in the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The Friday she was diagnosed, I sent out the first Update to family and friends. The next Friday, and, it turns out for all Fridays following, I sent UPdates. I gave details of how Paige and I were coping with this dramatic intrusion into our lives. The list of readers grew. Some readers forwarded the UPdates to friends. Some Sunday School classes in those churches also passed them on to their membership lists.
When Paige died, on March 26, 2020, I still needed this ongoing writing outlet. Any writer would understand. I did not want to pour my grief onto my readership; I did not need to. According to Hospice, I had experienced four-plus years of “Anticipatory Grief.” But I had discovered a common, palpable angst among family and friends (and now, readers). Not only had I given updates on how Paige and I were handling this degenerative disease, but also I wrote of the hope, help, and humor we experienced; many of my readers had, or were also undergoing challenging circumstances—sometimes more challenging than ours—and found the UPdates helpful. As Paige said many times, “Everybody is dealing with something.”
And so, it continues. I hope that as you read these posts in The Archive, and as you subscribe to www.fridayswithwillis.com you may also find Joy in the Journey. Grace and peace to you, dear reader.