Not too long into my own widowhood journey, I noticed something that happens once the newness of our loss has worn off for everyone but us: many of my friends, most of my lovely, wonderful support group had all but ...
It happened again. I went on another first date that didn’t leave me wanting a second. The man was intelligent and ambitious, polite and friendly. But there was no spark, and, when I got home afterwards, I realized that I ...
Do you ever wonder if…instead of him…it had been you? Instead…I was the one with the out-of-nowhere terminal diagnosis and the slow, painful progression toward my early death in my 40s with so much I wanted to do and see ...
I feel as though every widow who writes about this time of year writes about the gut punch that is the holiday season without their beloved, and while that’s a deep and visceral truth that I too experience, I thought ...
It can be very hard to navigate the waters of the family when grief is involved. It is hard enough when the person missing from your family functions is a cousin, aunt, parent, or any other loved one. The reality ...
"No man (or woman) steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and (s)he's not the same (wo)man."--Heraclitus I live near the Green River, drive across it a few times a day, walk next to it ...
Before I lost my husband, I was vaguely familiar with the 5 stages of grief. Honestly, I think I learned about the stages of grief from some movie. So, when Todd died, I thought my emotions would have this logical ...
Every morning I read a list of fifty things I have to be thankful for. I started doing this a few months ago; it was something my grief therapist suggested to help me get through the uncertainty and loneliness of ...
Remembering the first year after Todd died revives all of its raw, nearly physical pain. That year was a waking nightmare. Sometimes, another widow’s post or comment reminds me of the early weeks and months, and I hurt for her ...
Here we are, in some of the darkest days of the year. I know the days have begun to get incrementally longer since the solstice, but that change seems imperceptible. Cold weather keeps us inside, out of whatever meager, cloud-filtered ...