A few rocks on a patio. A package of Necco wafers under a Christmas tree. Seemingly meaningless objects unless someone is there to explain their significance.

Scott Colvin loved the outdoors. More than that, he loved sharing activities like skiing, hiking and fishing with his wife and three kids. When he died three years ago of an inoperable brain tumor, Peggy, his wife and ski partner of more than 30 years, made arrangements for Scott to be cremated and buried with his ski boots. Then she packed away her own ski equipment.

"The first year after he died, I tried to go skiing, but it was like torture," Peggy said. "I couldn't stand the thought of having an empty space next to me on the chairlift."

But to visit the Colvin household now, there is no mistaking that this is the home of skiers. There are skiing magazines strewn across the coffee tables, paintings of skiers on the wall.

"He would want us to do this," Peggy said. "It just takes time to feel like we can do the things that we did with him."

Peggy credits Hospice of St. Peter's for her family's ability to carry on with their lives and to carry on Scott's love of the outdoors. Hospice workers and volunteers helped the Colvin family during the last two months of Scott's life and provided grief support after his death.

Thinking back to the August and September of 2006 isn't exactly easy for Peggy. Losing who she described as her soulmate when he was just 51 years old brings back sadness and anger, but she also remembers the incredible support that hospice provided to her family.

"Hospice is medical expertise, it is hope, it is empathy, it is encouragement," she said. "It's not the feeling that your loved one will get better, but it's just an incredible safety net."

Peggy said hospice provided great support for her children, Amber, Adam and Tucker, who were aged 19, 17 and 15 at the time of Scott's death.

"I don't think they would have come out on the other end as strong if hospice weren't involved," Peggy said.

It's also the little details that Peggy remembers - the hospice volunteers who sat with Scott so she could go watch her sons' soccer and football games, the single red rose hospice sent for Scott's funeral.

"It was like that single rose took up the whole church," Peggy said. "You wouldn't believe the significance of that one red rose."

Along the front steps of the Colvin house are a collection of various-sized rocks. At first, they just look like they were randomly selected, but then Peggy points out that they are all shaped like hearts. Since Scott died, the Colvins and their friends started collecting the rocks during their outdoor adventures.

---

Lynn Staley put up her Christmas tree before Halloween this year. She's not a Christmas fanatic; she's just organized. She wants her home to be ready when she returns from a month-long trip to Hawaii.

A year ago, Staley was not so together. She had lost both her husband and her mother within a short period of time that spring. She nearly collapsed from grief during Hospice of St. Peter's annual Lite-A-Life ceremony last December.

The guy next to her had just lit a candle and then passed the torch to Staley.

"I just fell apart," she said. "He put his arm around me. He knew I was full of grief."

The guy was Rob Lucht, who had known Staley's husband, Chips. Lucht also knew Staley's grief - the year before he had lost his wife and his father within a short period of time.

"I didn't know if it was the right thing to do," Lucht said, "but when she grabbed my wrist I knew it was the right thing to do."

On Christmas day last year, Lucht called Staley to check on her. Staley was spending her first Christmas without her husband in Great Falls with her daughter.

"He said he wanted to let me know he was thinking about me," Staley said.

Staley invited Lucht to her home shortly after that. Although Lucht and Chips had known each other, Staley had never met him before.

"When we finally got together, I hugged her," Lucht said. "We bonded in her living room instantly. We know each other's pain."

The widow and widower have been together ever since.

"We both still grieve. We both still cry," Staley said. "We share our experiences. We're walking through it together."

Staley and Lucht traveled to Kauai together this month. It's a trip she took for more than 20 years with Chips.

"I believe Chips and God put us together," Staley said.

Underneath Staley's Christmas tree are two presents. One is a box of Russell Stover's chocolates - her mother's favorite. The other is a box of Chips's favorite - a box of Necco wafers.