I thought today would be a difficult one to handle because it was Valentine's Day - the day for lovers - and mine is gone. It's my fourth year without Rick here, and after all this time, I'm used to ...
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 ...
I was sitting alone in my car near a lake in the park when I heard some powerful words about grief and healing. Every afternoon when I get off work, I leave my home office and drive to this semi-secluded ...
We all know that feeling of a broken heart - wow, do we ever. After Dave died my heart literally felt physically broken. It was doing flip-flops in my chest and skipping beats like crazy. I’d been diagnosed with a ...
Since my husband died, I’ve learned that the word “widow” can be a label, as if being a widow is a static condition. It’s deceptively simple and cloaks the fact that each widow is unique and that widowhood and grief ...
“Melissa, you’re brilliant!” I thought to myself. I had this great idea to spend our first holiday after Dave’s death in Disneyland. What a perfect distraction, right? I walked downstairs where the boys were playing video games - they were ...
Anyone who has experienced loss knows how difficult holidays can be, and how traditions can be tricky beasts. For me, the first holiday season after Gary died fell a mere 3 months later. We were all still in shock. When ...
Memories I'm writing this post on my 20th wedding anniversary with Dave - he died suddenly in his sleep almost 10 years ago. I have a little smile on my face as I remember getting to know him as a ...
I’m not sure if every widow does this, but I tend to gravitate towards watching any TV show or movie where the main character is a widow. It’s always interesting to me to see how the plot treats widowhood. Is ...
I push to move forward and reclaim my broken life. I want to thrive and build a life full of good memories with my children despite being so shattered by death stealing from our home. It was three years in ...