We visited our bereaved friend Art Bell this weekend. Ramona, his beloved wife of ten years, died suddenly on January 5th, and now he’s very much alone. As has been happening so often lately, I got a message about Art in a roundabout way. I want to share this with everyone who visits this website, because I know you all care so much about him.

We flew to Las Vegas on Saturday morning, then flew back on Sunday. While Art needs friends, he isn’t capable of long periods of social interaction right now. This is typical of the mourning period.

It was raining when we arrived in Las Vegas and checked into the Best Western hotel. When we saw Art, he talked about his radio station KNYE and said that Ramona’s voice could still be heard making some of the announcements. On Sunday morning, the day we left, I opened the curtains onto a bright, sunny day–a complete contrast to the day before. I said to Whitley, “It’s a bright, sunny day,” and sang a little of one of my favorite tunes, which was made famous by Johnny Nash years ago: “I can see clearly now, the rain has gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the rain clouds that had me down. It’s gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiny day.”

A little later, I was waiting in the car while Whitley checked out of the hotel. I tuned the radio to KNYE 95.1 and heard Art?s voice doing a commercial. The music they were using in the background was the same song I had been singing earlier.

I realized I had gotten a message: It’s going to be hard, but Art is going to be all right. That sunshiny day will return for him.

To read Whitley’s meditation on Ramona Bell’s death, click here.

NOTE: This Diary entry, previously published on our old site, will have any links removed.