For family members who have recently suffered the loss of a loved one, the holidays can be very difficult.

But, one South Whitehall Township resident found a unique way to deal with his grief this past Christmas.

"I have always decorated for Christmas, but this year I decided to decorate in honor of my late wife Darlene," Thomas W. Shellhammer said. "I put more lights outside this year than normal."

Darlene, who spent the last few years in a wheelchair, always loved Christmas, and seeing the Lights in the Parkway every year, Shellhammer said.

His wife, who was born Sept. 25, 1948, in Hazelton, had cerebral palsy.

She died Oct. 30, 2013, in the family's home.

Shellhammer said he and Darlene, who was walking with crutches when they first met at a trade school in Johnstown, Cambria County, celebrated 40 years of marriage last June 2.

"The first time I met Darlene, I had been out drinking and came into the trade school and picked her up, crutches and all, as she was talking to someone, and lifted her into the air," Shellhammer said. "After that, she was always looking for me."

"We went together five years before we got married."

Darlene, who liked to do arts and crafts and using the computer, worked in the mailroom at the former Day-Timer in Lower Macungie for seven years.

"She was very active up to the last year. Then she didn't want to get out of the house," Shellhammer said.

Shellhammer, who was his wife's primary caregiver, worked for three years as an environmental technician at Cedarbrook Nursing Home.

Shellhammer continues to reside in the home he shared with his late wife with his 4-year-old dog, Odie, and his 7-year-old cat Garfield.