The human spirit has an amazing capacity to overcome grief and help heal heartbreak. This past Friday, Houseman and Seibert were married at the Reformed Baptist Church of Kalamazoo.

The story of Steve Houseman, 38, and Sarah Seibert, 28, is proof of that power.

As recently as Dec. 12, 2009, the couple had not yet met. On that day, Houseman’s wife, Sara Beth Houseman, 38, of Plainwell, died suddenly. She had suffered from seizures related to a heart condition.

Houseman said he had realized, because of his wife’s precarious health, how precious was the time that they had together.

Five days earlier, Seibert’s husband, 30-year-old Eric Seibert of Prairieville Township, was killed in an automobile accident in Barry County. He was driving home from work when he suffered an epileptic seizure and crashed into a tree.

Suddenly, tragically, two people were single parents; Houseman with six young children and Seibert with two.

Both were grieving the loss of their spouses.

Houseman read the Kalamazoo Gazette story about Seibert’s fatal accident and felt compelled to write to Sarah Seibert. She received his letter on New Year’s Eve. In the letter, he asked her to contact him if she needed to talk. He wrote that he, too, had lost his spouse. The next night, they spoke on the phone. They talked for two hours about their faith and their loss.

They got to know each other through phone calls, online chats and e-mails before finally meeting in person in April. He proposed to her in May.

This past Friday, Houseman and Seibert were married at the Reformed Baptist Church of Kalamazoo. Al Kenitz is currently the pastor of the church.

And so the couple is starting a new life together, with a new family, stronger now that they have each other.

“I just think it’s fabulous,” said Houseman’s sister, Karen Triemstra of Kalamazoo. “I’m glad to see they both can find happiness after such a horrible tragedy.”

Tragic events may be beyond our control, but a human response in the wake of such tragedies is not. This story certainly illustrates that point.

Reaching out to comfort a fellow survivor seems a simple enough gesture, unlikely to matter much in the larger scheme of life events. But it does matter.

Sometimes it’s impossible to know how much.

Clearly, in the lives of Steve Houseman and Sarah Seibert, it made a world of difference.

http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/06/editorial_a_story_of_love_and.html