When my husband died, I was devastated. Absolutely devastated. I had no idea how I was going to survive. Wasn’t even sure if I wanted to. There were times I wished I had died with him. I had no idea ...
How did this happen? Why did this happen? Did this really happen? Am I really a widow? Did my husband really die? Did I really find him unresponsive laying on our bedroom floor? How did this end up being my ...
Did you know that August is National Wellness Month? It sure is! Let’s be honest, women aren’t always the best at taking care of themselves very well. We prioritize everyone and everything over ourselves. And widows? Well, I’d easily place ...
There is a lot of stress that comes with losing a loved one. A therapist told me that on the scale of stress, the highest form of grief related stress was the grief that came from losing a spouse--not a ...
Standing together Recently I watched a series on Netflix. One of the story’s characters, a smart, thriving lawyer is asked why she returned back to the small town where she lived instead of living in a larger metropolis like Los ...
As a widow in my 40’s, the most common expression I hear from people once they know my story is, “I cannot even imagine”. Nobody wants to imagine a tragedy like mine happening to them. I prefer to think of ...
How many times have you heard: “You are so strong!”? Or seen memes that compliment a widow’s strength, like this one: “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have”? I didn’t realize ...
I have found myself in somewhat of an identity crisis over the last several years of this life I didn't create for myself. How do I walk forward and find my path and my purpose in this life? Is it ...
It’s Friday and I’m sitting on my deck in my sunny backyard making a grocery shopping list. The Shipt shopper will take care of the shopping that Rick used to do as his most favorite task in the world (man, ...
One of the scariest parts of grief for me has been the overwhelming vulnerability. When my husband first passed away, it was like my body was frozen in time: my emotions, my tears, and my heart were just numb. ...