A lifelong struggle with a beautiful ending. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, I'm sure many of us are looking forward to gathering with family and friends, watching football, and obviously, eating tons of good food. And I’m sure many of us will also take time to reflect on everything we’re thankful for, despite the ups and downs of life, as the title of the holiday suggests and encourages. In addition to being grateful for the people currently in our lives, many of us also know what it’s like to experience a holiday like this without an important loved one there to make new memories with. One country star who understands that as well as anyone is Jessi Colter, who lost her husband Waylon Jennings in February of 2002 after he passed from complications with diabetes. In a lengthy feature in the November edition of Guideposts Magazine back in 2017, Jessi shared an incredibly personal story, in her own words, about Waylon’s last Thanksgiving and how it ultimately changed his life. He famously struggled with a bad drug habit for many years, and as a young man, he abandoned the faith he had been raised with because of the harsh "fire and brimstone" sermons he grew up with. Jessi grew up the daughter of a Pentecostal preacher, as her mom had her own church near Phoenix, Arizona. At age 11, Colter became the pianist at the church, a skill that would ultimately shape her music career and life. She recalls meeting Waylon in the 60’s in Arizona at JD’s nightclub, at a time when Jessi says she had already "abandoned the faith of my childhood" as well. In October of 1969, Waylon and Jessi got married and moved to Nashville, and Waylon continued to struggle with his drug addiction. She wanted badly for her husband to quit them, obviously, but she also understood that he needed to do so in his own time and way. Waylon's friend Johnny Cash had kicked a similarly bad habit, and he was able to kick it by going to rehab, though Jessi knew Johnny was already a Christian, and he probably had an easier time accepting that he needed help because he knew he was truly broken and needed God’s help to overcome his struggle. Waylon Finally Kicks The Drugs After much prayer on Jessi's part (she had come back to her faith years before), in March of 1984, Waylon decided that he wanted to stop doing drugs on his own. They rented a house out in the Arizona desert, canceled everything on the calendar, and camped out there while Waylon came off of all of the drugs: “The ordeal was painful, physically and emotionally. Every bone in Waylon’s body screamed out in anguish. Later he wrote how my presence, my prayers, made a difference. Somehow he quit on his own and managed to stay sober the rest of his life.” Jessi also importantly noted of the ordeal: “Let me be clear: I do not consider Waylon’s way to sobriety a template for others. I would never encourage anyone to rely, as he did, on sheer willpower. It can be a recipe for disaster. I thank God that Waylon made it work. And that I knew enough to stay out of the way.” In the early 2,000s, the couple packed up and moved to Arizona (Jessi’s home state) from Nashville, where Waylon would live until he passed away. While Waylon was no longer on drugs, his hard living and lifestyle had taken a toll on his body, and he wasn't in great health. He had severe leg pain due to his diabetes, and he could no longer drive, so Jessi would drive him around to their favorite spots in the desert. It caused him to reflect on many of the mistakes he'd made over the years, and Jessi recalled him feeling guilty for all the pain he'd caused other people, unable to forgive himself. With everything going on with his health, and heart, on Thanksgiving day in 2001, Jessi felt in her heart the time had come for a very real and honest conversation she’d wanted to have with him for many years. Salvation On Thanksgiving Day Being that they were married for over 30 years, Waylon always knew when Jessi had something on her mind: “‘Looks like you want to say something to me, darlin’,’ he said from his hospital bed. ‘If you’ve got something to say, go ahead and say it.’ Waylon sensed what was happening. He always did. Finally I said it. ‘Are you ready to accept the Lord?’ He grinned. ‘I knew you were going to ask that. It’s a simple question. It all comes down to one thing. Are you ready to be God’s man?’ He nodded and kept repeating, ‘God’s man.’ Then he said, ‘To become God’s man, what do I need to say?’ ‘That you accept Jesus, that you love him as he loves you, that you turn your life over to him.'” Right then and there, he did, and Jessi shared the beautiful moment they shared together in that hospital room: “Waylon said those words. I wept. He took my hand and said, ‘I love you so much.’ He had declared his love for me a million times before, but this time his tone was so vulnerable, so soft, so sweet. His sincerity thrilled my heart.” Sadly, Waylon's already poor health continued to decline, and he passed away on February 13th, 2002. Jessi remembers his last Christmas several months before that as being "joyful," saying he spent it with his family singing hymns and spending time together. She noticed a new confidence in him, but a far different one than the "swagger" of an outlaw country artist... “It was a new confidence—not the swagger of an outlaw country superstar, running onstage to the cheers of a hundred thousand fans, but the quiet assurance of someone who knew he was ‘God’s man.'” It's a remarkable story, and proof that, like Jessi says, no matter how far gone you think someone is, there's always hope. Jessi always felt like the Lord was working to bring peace to her husband one day, adding poignantly that: “No one is ever totally gone. We leave our mark on the world, especially an artist like Waylon. And we leave our mark on the hearts of others… In the desert, Waylon kicked drugs. On the operating table, he survived surgery. That Thanksgiving, Waylon at last understood that he loved the Lord as the Lord loved him.” It's one of my favorite country music-related stories to look back on every year ahead of Thanksgiving, and a great reminder of what's really important as we go into this holiday season. Behind every good man is an even better woman, as the old saying goes, and these two were a power couple that not only left a trailblazing legacy of incredible outlaw country music, but true and unconditional love... here’s to the late, great Waylon Jennings and the woman who helped save him, Mrs. Jessi Colter. "Storms Never Last" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcdhc3_Kpk4&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiskeyriff.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE