Dear Alyson,

You asked me if I would like to make a statement to your group out in Colorado. Nothing would give me more pleasure, so here goes:

First let me say, THANK YOU! And God Bless each and every one of you who have cared enough to take the time to see what you can do to help me to succeed. I am a firm believer that "ONE" voice can make a difference and with wonderful people like you, it makes me have much hope.

When my husband Carson died I lost my one and only "soul mate" and in some of the darkest hours of my life when I had to face another new day without him, I wondered what was the purpose of my life without "BEAR"? What could it possibly be? And then I started meeting Widows just like myself with stories just as horrible or worse than mine. Being a person of "action" I knew something had to be done.

At one of our meetings in Montgomery I proposed that we do a WIDOWS' WALK. Realizing that so many of these fine women were older and in worse health than I was, I thought that maybe this was going to be an undertaking that I would probably have to do on my own. Being a total believer that where there's a will there's a way, I started making some plans. Debbie Wills has been a "big force" behind this movement. She has known many of the doors that I have needed to knock on and she has opened many of these doors for me.

A reporter asked me this week what my name was? I love when this happens because it makes the perfect opportunity for me to make it very clear that this March to Washington, D.C., isn't about me and never will be.

So I give an answer such as: Hi, my name is Peggy Coleman. I'm 68 years old, my husband, Dean died in 1985 of a massive heart attack on our front porch and I have 19 appeals with my government. Hi, my name is Mrs. Mann, I live in Oak Hill, my husband died 3 years ago, and we have 13 appeals with my government. Etc. I try to make it very clear: this is not about me but the many widows out there who, after losing their husbands to this terrible disease, have to decide between food or their much-needed medicines.

When you drive through our beautiful state, you will see giant billboards that are advertising COAL. They read: "COAL KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON." Well it's time for our lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to hear about the widows in this country who have lost their husbands. Because after working for years for the coal companies and after keeping the lights on in this country they leave behind their widows who have a tremendous financial burden of medical bills and no financial means of keeping "her" lights on--unless she's able to work two jobs.

After my husband died I was about $20,000 dollars short of paying all the medical bills after all his life insurance was paid out on medical bills and medical equipment that he needed to sustain his life. So after Carson's funeral I worked an average of 80 hours a week to keep my lights on. Don't get me wrong when I speak of this because I thank God above that he gave me the strength, willpower, and the determination to provide for myself.

But I have met many widows who are not able to work one job let alone two. So it is their voices that MUST be heard and their stories that MUST be told. I will walk to our nation's capital and will not stop until we get the LAWS changed that will lead to a change that will benefit these women who have been neglected by our government for too long. We also need to get the laws changed that have "tied" the hands of our coal miners for too many years.

We must be able to hire lawyers to represent us or we will never win our cases against the powerful coal companies. We literally have to face the Administrative Law Judge and the company lawyers with no one to represent us or to stand in our corner and we don't stand a "snowball's chance in Hades." I was talking to a local Judge in the county where I live and he told me he was pretty sure that this law that the Labor Department has forced upon us is UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

So as a widow of a coal miner it is obvious that we have many laws on the books that are an issue for all of us to address in the future, one step at a time. But as we become organized our numbers increase. Because they do increase with a new widow every six and a half minutes. Our fight will be long and hard but we will prevail!!!!

Sincerely yours,
Linda Chapman
 
 
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