I’ve been excited about my latest adventure. The local library invited me to have a table with my books at their annual local author fair. I’ve never done it before – never even considered it, mostly because I never considered myself an author. I know I’m a writer. I know I’ve published books, but I guess it’s “imposter syndrome,” because … Read the blog
Category: New beginnings
The Lost Piece – Hope for Widows blog for April 2024
THE LOST PIECE
When a soul mate dies
It leaves a hole with a ragged edge
An empty space, too difficult to patch
Although I try to find another piece that fits,
The shape is never quite right
And the hole remains empty
Sometimes, I set the puzzle aside
And pretend my life is complete
Without that missing piece
The … Read the blog
There Will Never Be Another You – Hope for Widows Blog – January 2024
Every now and then I hear one of those old songs from the 1940s that my parents used to listen to, and – wow – do those lyrics hit! The other night, as I lay awake in bed (as usual), I remembered the lyrics of “There Will Never Be Another You”:
… Read the blogThere will be many other nights like this |
Your Surviving Heart – December blog posted on the Hope for Widows website
As I sit here, reflecting on the year that has passed, I realized how alone I feel. Sure, I have lots of loved ones in my life – and many, many people I can count on to be there for me, so I’m not lonely at all. But I’ve never felt this alone. I think it’s all the holiday cheer … Read the blog
The Love of a Lifetime – Hope for Widows Blog
As the sixth anniversary of Rick’s death approaches, I realize I’ve had many shifts in my attitude about how I view my life here alone. For about the first two years, my whole identity was that of a widow. I was still part of a couple, one of us just wasn’t living. I continued to participate with most of the … Read the blog
Leaving the Past Behind – Hope for Widows Blog
t 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 hadn’t laughed once. Not once. And I have that kind of sense of humor that finds just about anything funny.… Read the blog
Still Picking Up the Pieces – Latest blog on the Hope for Widows website
Five years ago today, I held Rick’s hand in a death grip. A literal death grip, for hour upon hour. By noon of that day, I realized he was going to die, and he did, at 8pm that night.
The night before, alone in my bed, I had an odd feeling. A scary feeling. A feeling like my life was … Read the blog
His Lasting Impact on My Life – Hope for Widows Blog for June
The impact of Rick’s death has lessened as the years go by. That’s only natural. I’ve always been a firm believer that time really does heal all wounds, although not as quickly as we would like (and I definitely formed that opinion before experiencing widowhood). But certainly the enormous and raw pain I felt daily in the first months and … Read the blog
A Piece of Him Inside Me – February’s blog on Hope for Widows’ Site
One of my new favorite shows, 1883, has the characters saying some memorable lines. Since I’m involved in a relatively new romance, some of the lines about love give my heart a pleasant little twinge. But a discussion about grief in the last episode left me sobbing in a way I haven’t in a while. It was that pleasure/pain … Read the blog
Relinquishing the Dead – Hope for Widows Blog, January 2022
Author Joan Didion died in December. I’ve always enjoyed her writing, but I owe her a special debt of gratitude for her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking. In it, she described the grief and pain following the death of her husband, and the lost sense of reality that resulted from her grief. (She also refers to this state … Read the blog