(Reposting from 2023, since every Thanksgiving I can’t help but this of this last one with Mario. Actual Thanksgiving this year I just spent a few hours with my mom and had leftovers from the Friendsgiving spread I did on Wednesday.) Trigger alerts for: addiction, depression, and bitter sweet holiday memories. The last Thanksgiving that […]
Blog
Seasonal Gifts
Lee’s brother, Paul, called yesterday to invite me to share Thanksgiving with him, Joanne, one of their grown boys, Andy, and Andy’s brood. He brought me up to date on Joe’s successful, recently completed Fall tour with his current musical group, the oddly named “Olllam.” Joe is Paul and Joanne’s other grown son. According to […]
The Immeasurable Power of Gratitude
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” –Melody Beattie Gratitude snuck up on me today. Gratitude is a wily beast! It captured me in a google search and surrounded me in its giant warm hug. It came to me through a poem from Melody […]
Two Times …
I lost my husband 15 years ago. I lost my husband 8 weeks ago. Yes, both of those statements are true. Twice widowed. Not something most of us would choose willingly, is it? But I did. I was quite vocal about never dating after Vern died. I wrote about it in my blog, I shared […]
One Chapter Closing, Another Opening
Many moons ago, I was a regular writer on the Widow’s Voice blog. In fact, in 2008, I was the only writer. My hope at the time was to offer a real, in-the-moment glimpse into widowed life as I was living it. After just a couple of weeks, it became clear that our community needed […]
Old Messages on Messenger
For no particular reason, I looked up Lynn and my conversation in my Messenger app. Honestly, I did not think we had ever messaged on Messenger, but indeed we had! Her first message to me was on August 12, 2009, and said “to see how this works.” There is only a small handful of random […]
The Best Dog I Never Needed
When I “ran off” to my new life in rural Northeast Central Florida in September 2023, the last thing I needed in my life was a new dog. As I’ve written before in previous Widow’s Voice posts, however, i think that dogs seem to enter our lives often when we don’t even know how […]
249 Weeks
I’m still processing the grief of losing my cat and I’ve just been uninspired to write this week, so it’s going to be one those freeform type of posts that jump from topic to topic. First, I find myself saying, “I can’t believe how fast this …. week, month, year….” Has gone by way too […]
The Written Word
I have been sitting here staring at a blank slate. From time to time, producing a new piece for this blog each Thursday can be a source of anxiety. Writing for you is a serious responsibility; one I take seriously. Writing here scratches my itch, yet, at the same time, the Widow’s Voice blog imposes […]
A Glimpse of June
In a Rainy November There are days when you just don’t have a post in you. On those days (like today) I pick an old post and feature it as a placeholder until my spirit revives itself. Here’s to beauty in the middle of rainy days from a post this past Summer. xo Where […]
Grief in Poetry
I was doing a little doom scrolling today and stumbled on a video that cut me to the quick. In the best and worst way, because that’s how grief works. The video was taken at the Happy Place Festival in the UK in August. It’s raining and a rainbow of streamers that decorate a tent […]
Give Up My Personal History?
I listened to a Dr. Wayne Dyer YouTube video (part of it) where he quotes Carlos Casteneda saying something along the lines of no longer needing / giving up your personal history. And, if you no longer have a personal history, you no longer have to live up to it. Hearing that freaked me out, […]