After Mike died – indeed before he died, when he was ill – I know I set a clear intention to carry on living fully afterwards. In truth I never questioned whether or not I’d want to carry on living. For the last many decades, for as long as I can consciously remember being aware of such things as “choice”, “intention”, “the miracle…
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Getting More than You Give
Today I’m exhausted for good reasons, and thinking back to all the many times I have been exhausted for reasons I didn’t want to be. Exhausted from crying so much, or from trying to figure out my life again, or from just trying to do the myriad of ordinary things in life as a widow like buying groceries, going to the doctor or making new friends. I…
You Have to be Kidding Me
Dear Readers, My last post was about my first year as a widow and some of the lessons I learned throughout that year. I wanted to do the second part of that post. I want to share with you some of the things that were said to me during that year that made me think, “You have to be kidding me.” Things you shouldn’t say to a widow- 1. “You…
What Now?…
This blog is a question for the Universe, I suppose. Because I don’t believe that there is a human alive, who has gone through this widowed life, who would have a ready answer for me. I’ve stood in the middle of nowhere and cast my eyes up into azure blue skies… I’ve stood outside on the darkest of dark nights with no light pollution around and…
Maudlin
One of the patterns I have noticed in friends’ responses to whatever I happen to post on social media is that, when I post some good news, “happy photos”, or an achievement, I get 3 or 4 times as many “likes”, comments, and whoopy doos, than if I post something hard, messy, painful and tough. There the sorrow just hangs out its forlorn…
Another Year Without You
Soon I will have been your Widow for three years. Should I be good at widowing now? Should this feel “normal” to me now? Who knows. No one gave me a manual when you died. So, I am going by feel. I fumble forward on instinct. I hate your death date. November 15th, 2016 – you took your last breath and I fought to catch…
Caretaker
I’ve always felt that, 5 years after Megan’s death, I wouldn’t feel like a widow anymore. Not counting those first few months, when I swore up and down that my life was over and that I would never, ever move forward or be able to love again, I consider myself very realistic. I have a stable career. Shelby is and always has been…
Second Season of Spirits
Holidays are hard for me now since Tin and my father are gone. They passed away 10 months apart and it is very clear that so much has gone on that I can’t process some situations better than I thought I would. Round 2 of the holidays coming and I’m worse than last year. I guess it makes sense. That whole first year is a blur trying to manage…
Loss Connections
Next week I will be attending Camp Widow in Toronto, Canada. I will be presenting two workshops there. One is my usual “My Husband Is Not a Rainbow” comedic presentation about grief and loss. The other is called “Widowed Improv.” Basically, we will be playing fun improvisation theatre games. With widowed people. This will be the 3rd or 4th…
First Year as a Widow
Dear Readers, I have officially hit my first year as a widow and I would like to share some of my experiences and lessons learned during this unimaginable time. 1. You are stronger more than you could have ever imagined. Especially during the times where you feel like your heart is going to stop because it hurts so much and you feel you can’t…
It’s Just a Piece of Metal
One of my favourite Mike stories, dating from before I met him, was frequently regaled in family conversations. I am sure that over almost thirty years, the story popped up at least once a year. More often after the kids were born. It made it onto the “Stories of Mike” CD Mike and Trisha recorded in the last weeks of his life while at the…
Shattered Hearts Still Beat
Before I was Mike’s widow I did not know the depth and breadth of grief. I had no idea that grief lasts forever. I never considered secondary losses. I did not think about how the dead are missing from our futures. The day Mike died, I did not know that my grief would stay with me throughout my lifetime. I just didn’t know. …