As an avid swimmer all my life, I know how dangerous and unpredictable waves can be. One minute, you’re frolicking in the surf, head above water, enjoying the vibrant, alive feeling of being submerged in the cold water, floating or swimming, and having the time of your life. The next, you’re knocked off your feet,…
Tag: cancer widow
Eighty Percent Me
On my way to trivia finals this morning, I was reminded of last October, two months after Rick died, when I was invited to play with this same team in a trivia finals event. After Rick was diagnosed in October 2016, we rarely went to our regular Monday league games anymore. At first, he was…
Happy Birthday to My Love
On this special day, I miss Giving you your birthday kiss And helping you enjoy your day By celebrating some fun way A movie? Dinner? Restaurant? You’d ask, and I’d do what you want Then rush around to find your gift Some tech toy would give you a lift And you were pleased so easily…
When Logic Meets Grief
I’ve always considered myself a logical person. I love puzzling out things, playing detective. Rick teased me about my supposed sleuthing skills all the time and affectionately called me Kinsey Millhone (the great fictional detective in the Sue Grafton novels). I like logic so much, I even took two logic classes in college. But if…
It’s Just a Day
It’s just a day. I keep telling myself that. A day has no power. A day can’t hurt you. Why did I fear waking up today, August 13th? I’ve made it this far. I made it through all the days and weeks and months after this horrible day last year, and I’ve survived. Last year,…
One Year Without You – A Poem
I’ve been writing a lot lately. I have so many thoughts swirling around in my mind that I need to get out. I know it has to do with the looming one-year anniversary of Rick’s death and the grief that evokes. I want so much to remember everything about him, his love for me, and…
Garbage Day
Wednesday is garbage day in my part of the neighborhood, and every Wednesday evening, when I return home from babysitting my grandsons, I wheel the empty garbage can and recycling bin back to their place on the side of my garage. And – sometimes – if it’s very late when I get home, or it’s…
It Takes a Village: My Latest Blog on Hope for Widows
“It takes a village to raise a child” is a well known African proverb that means child-rearing is a communal effort, that raising a child requires the experience and support of an entire community with whom the child can interact to help him or her learn and grow. And since the death of my husband…
Happy Anniversary to Me
I thought it may all be past me now, the feeling of devastation, the tsunami of pain. Apparently, it wasn’t. I made it through our anniversary yesterday. We were married July 12, 1997. He died one month after our anniversary last year. I feared it would be a day filled with the pain of his…
I Met a Man – A Poem
I met a man who loved the sun, I knew at once he was the one. He said, I’ll take you far and wide, If only you will be my bride. I said “I do,” sealed with a kiss, And we began our wedded bliss. His word was true, and we did go Around the…









