Lynn was born in Providence, Rhode Island, into a large Italian family, with heavy Massachusetts / New England accents, were devout Catholics and Red Sox fans, and – New England Patriots fans. I just came from my friends’ annual 2026 Super Bowl party, where the Patriots played (and lost horribly to) the Seahawks. I was […]
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A Win-Win Situation
I begin this post with a disclamer. I do not, nor ever have, been employed by the supermarket chain Winn Dixie, nor did I write the book Because of Winn Dixie, although it’s a great dog story. That honor belongs to the incredible children’s author Kate DiCamillo. I am, however, the loving dog mom to […]
Trying to Reframe February
4 days from now it will make 5 full years since Mario made his grand exit from this life. It’s absolutely nuts to me how fast those 5 years went by. And about February … It’s not like every February of my life has been awful, but there have been some big, awful events that […]
Early To Rise
It’s early here in Tucson, where, at this time of year, it stays dark until after six a.m. I find it hard to get up in the dark, even when I’ve had enough sleep. Something about the darkness compels me to stay in bed a while longer. The clock on my computer announces that it’s […]
A Widowed Valentine’s Day Expression
Gratitude Flows Can we give a “widowbit” this Valentine’s Day for the widowed person who needs us? There is so much about my widowhood journey that would not have been the same if it hadn’t been for Soaring Spirits. The idea of honoring Valentine’s Day with a Member Drive feels so right to me. […]
Song Sung Blue
“Me and you are subject to the blues now and then” And oh boy did the ‘now and then’ arrive. And they were triggered by watching the new ‘Song Sung Blue’ movie. Go figure. I love Neil Diamond. And his song ‘Sweet Caroline’ has been “our song” for Vern and I since way back […]
Touch Deprivation
A friend and I were recently talking about the touch deprivation experienced in widowhood. It’s one of those extra layers of loss that not everyone thinks about. But it reminds me of everyone touting the importance of skin-to-skin contact when a new baby is born. We use touch to express affection, and I don’t mean […]
Getting Rid of Her Sentimental Items
I was watching a YouTube video about decluttering, or some similar topic. The presenter discussed how it can be difficult to get rid of items that belonged to a loved one who has passed away. I’ve watched tons of videos and read many books that talk about this, but in the video, they made a […]
Moving “4”ward Year by Year
It occurs to me that yesterday, January 30th, was the 6th anniversary of the closing of the home my late-husband, Rich, and I purchased in 2020 in St. Marys, GA. It was an exciting time with the promise of a happy future. It also happens to be Rich’s birthday next week, on February 4th, the […]
Living Alone – Not Lonely
I was recently wasting some more time on instagram. I have to admit, their algorithm has definitely been improved, because what it has been suggesting, has mostly been content I’m genuinely interested in (tons of creative folks making things). However, it randomly showed me a woman who is making rather humorous videos about what people […]
School Daze
While here in Tucson, I’ve enrolled in several adult education courses, which started this week. *** On Tuesday, I attended my first session, where a member of the University of Arizona Department of Linguistics presented a talk on artificial intelligence. He had an interesting take on the economics of this new technology. Without getting into […]
What is widowhood asking of me today?
At 1,748 days out has its question changed? When I walked my husband out to the coroner’s van in our driveway we were 51 years 9 months married. I was sending him off, in the custom of our culture, to a place unknown to me. Saying the first of many goodbyes, I had no […]