ATLANTA, Georgia — Last week we told you about the Bills Mafia Babes, a group for women to come together and talk about football in a safe and inviting space.
There are thousands of members across the country.
When working on that story, 2 On Your Side's Danielle Church stumbled across one of those women, Amy Zachery, whose family is dealing with grief.
Amy's healing process comes with a whole lot of wood and a larger love for football.
"(I made a bar out of) all the pallet wood that brought (my husband's) medical supplies," Zachery said. "I was able to incorporate him so he'll be with us every Sunday no matter what."
Amy and her husband, Larry "Zach" Zachery lived and breathed the sport.
"As long as we weren't playing each other, we were very much for each other's team."
So much so, they created a love for the Atlanta Falcons in son Gannon and a larger dedication to the Bills in daughters Gabrielle, Giane, and Grace.
"We've been to the Bills, Falcons games in Atlanta and our goal was to let the kids experience Buffalo of course. So this year, we had already made major plans. Whatever the game was, we were going but he passed before the season so," Amy said.
When all the fireworks stopped on January 1, 2021, so did Zach's five-year battle with kidney failure.
"He went to sleep and never woke up," Amy said.
2021 is the first time Amy has not been with her husband since she was 16.
"The struggle for me is that as soon as I get one child ok, then another one has a bad day and then, of course, I have bad days too," Amy said.
It's also the first time Zach couldn't be a dad.
"There's been times when we go out to dinner and one of them, Giane, that was their thing. She and Zach, would go out to dinner just the two of them. She goes out to eat now and there's sometimes she can't even look at a menu and order," said Amy's brother, Roger Gidlow.
Without Zach's spirit here this Christmas, and the first anniversary of his passing on its way, Amy's kids can't find the holiday spirit either.
"They don't even want to put the Christmas tree up," Amy said.
Now Amy is relying on her love of Buffalo football to find it, calling on her extended family of Bills fans to send holiday cards to the four people she loves most.
She posted on the Bills Mafia Babes Facebook page, hoping someone would answer. Instead, she got a ton of responses.
"Although their dad is not here, so many people care about them and I know Mafia is family," she said. "I hate to see my kids in pain and there's sometimes honestly nothing I can do but hold them."
Amy just wants to get Gannon, Gabrielle, Giane, and Grace to get through the grief.
"I'll read the cards with them and I'll enjoy seeing their smiles, that's good for me," Zachery said.
It's the one gift she could never wrap in a bow and place under a tree.
You can send cards to:
Amy Zachery
PO Box 1007
Grayson, GA 30017