This week has been freeing to me. For the first time in forever, I felt happy. I have not been in the darkness of my grief. It has been a much-needed change not to feel weighed down, stressed out, and depressed.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the battle between the old me and the new me that I feel brewing at times. This week I felt the old me resurface for a bit. Reminiscing on years past with my friends not just recent years but our childhood show years. The darkness lifted and my smile and laugh came back.
Standing in the show ring Thursday and actually being present, unlike the last year when I was in survival mode. My soul was healing. Then I got home and I laid down for bed and it hit me I didn’t think about Matt all day. No one talked about him. The darkness was back.
It should be a good thing sign of healing. Putting the past behind me and looking forward to the future one where I might actually be able to date again. But it hit in a way that I was not expecting, and I cried. After all I am still grieving and I have to allow myself those moments.
I did not allow the darkness to follow me into Friday. A few moments of anxiety did happen. But my friends were there to help me. The more I stay in the moment the better I am. When everything was over, I thanked my one friend for recognizing my anxiety and helping.
The emotional roller coaster I am on is that for a majority of the week I thought that maybe I am ready to consider dating again. I would love to have someone I could lean on in those more stressful moments. Someone that would recognize my anxiety flaring up and do something to support me in the moment and make it less stressful. If that means giving me control of the situation or simply knowing that my snaping is not because I am mad.
It is in these moments that I know the darkness is lifting. I no longer long for Matt’s comforting hug or kiss on the forehead. I could see someone else doing that. The thought of moving on no longer feels like I am betraying him. I know he would want to see this.
It felt good to laugh with an old friend. To make fun of him and have that old banter that we have had for a long time. It was me that existed before Matt. The old me that very few of my closest friends know. They know either me with Matt or the one that came after. Out of my support friends, only one knew the pre-Matt me and she lives states away so she did not really know us together.
That was the me that Matt fell in love with. The woman that I have been longing to be again. I have wanted this version of me for so long. At first, I would have said the woman that I was with him but she was not the one he fell in love with. I was a better person with him, because of him because he was not afraid to tell me what I needed to hear not what I wanted to hear.
I know that if he is watching me from up there he would be smiling hearing me laugh again. Watching me smile without thinking about it. Seeing the darkness of the past two years start to lift. Now I need to figure out how I hold on to this and don’t lose this feeling.
The fair will end and I will resume normal life on Monday. Next weekend I am traveling to Maine with my family to attend my cousin’s wedding. It is the first one I am going to since Matt died which means staying in the moment and not letting my anxiety flare. Life goes on and I need to start living again.
About Laurel Snook
Laurel became a young widow on October 2, 2020, her husband Matt had a heart attack he was only 37. Matt was a juvenile diabetic and they always knew he would die young but she never thought that she could be a widow at 32. Navigating grief with anxiety, regrets and guilt have been a struggle for Laurel. They had gotten into a fight days before he died and they had talked about divorce. One of the things that helped her the most is finding other widows who understood the pain she was feeling. In February she decided to start writing her story. Self-care is something else she started to do daily and art has become her outlet to get what she is feeling out which she shares on her Instagram. Being a young widow comes with its own challenges but we are not alone in this journey.
You can find her on Instagram @HealingPorcupine or her personal blog link- Healingporcupine.com.
My journey as a widow started out 3yrs 8mths and 21days ago… doesn’t feel like it but sounds like a long time ago for me but feels more like he just left us sooner then that. It’s just now my daughter and I she is 10years old. We use to call each other the trio. The stories on here hits so hard. My heart connects so much with you all. I want to share a little before I go back and finish all the stories on here.
This pass weekend we went to a family function and it was fun. On my drive home I just started crying and for a while I was doing so great. My cousin kept making fun of me because I wasn’t joining in the fun and usually I would join in the fun and dance the night away and have a few drinks but she kept calling me out my name and calling me party pooper etc! Smh If I was under the influence I would probably with her butt! But there was a sense of calmness within me to ignore her. (tyj) She wanted me to drink with them but I was ready to go home at 10pm! In that moment I felt a little awkward, I don’t know what to say. Nobody knows what your going through during the party that I am a widower and I’m not going to bring up why I’m not joining in with my sad stories nobody gets it. (Smh) I was fine until she bother especially me! and I didn’t realize it that actually bothered me until I left. On my drive I realized I have changed so much after the passing of my husband. I looked over to my daughter and I just bald out crying. If my husband was here it would’ve been a different story them waiting on me or dragging me out of that party. I’ve changed for my daughter. I guess it was the realizing of my husband not here to watch over my daughter no one there to get your back no one there to protect our daughter or to keep her company. I am OK at this point to do that for her but just had a moment of my husband is not here. I’m grateful for my family at the end of the day…. The next day I had a job my daughter wanted to come with me and we had planned to go visit my husband‘s mom after work we used to stay at home a year later he passed we moved out after my husband passed so here we are after work we roll by the house they had company we are always welcome there but we didn’t want to intrude so we drove off and decided to try another day. It was another sad moment for the two of us because we missed home we planned to see my in-laws but on the drive home it was a 25 minute drive back home and It was silence the whole time I was sad but I didn’t want to express that to make my daughter and she was a mute too! maybe she was feeling the same way we were just quiet the whole drive. missing home thinking of my husband. Missing the trio of me…..