First things first, and the most important thing first: this airline gets me!!! ➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️ But seriously, the polarity of this journey that goes from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other in a nanosecond, I had to take a picture of it. Well, we did it! We survived and, may I dare say, […]
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For Better or For Worse
I just found this newspaper cartoon clipping in Jim’s bedside drawer. It was folded up in a basket of miscellaneous keys, coins and receipts so I hadn’t yet taken the time to sort through all of it. I love Iris’ words: “We made a commitment … and although it’s not easy, this is all part […]
DeathFest V in Review
A week ago, I hosted a party called DeathFest V (5) to honor the life Tony lived and the person he was. Tony loved revelry with all the people he loved. Even though the party had a dark name, gathering together was at the center of the event. As I built the invite list, I […]
The Small Gestures That Help the Healing
I have such strong memories of the times people have said things that were – unbeknownst to them – hurtful to hear as a grieving widow. We know them all, ” I ALSO have strong memories that make me tear up with joy when I think of the times when someone unexpectedly said or did […]
Home Matters
Last week I wrote about my home in Georgia, the one that Rich and I purchased in early 2020. I relayed that I’ve been moving out and away from that haven for about two-and-a-half years now when in the fall of 2023 I acquired on a whim a log home in rural Northeast Florida. Not […]
Memorials & Keepsakes
In the U.S., cremation seems to be the preferred method of disposing of remains with 63.4% compared to a burial rate of 31.6%. Pretty sure this has greatly changed over the decades as even when I was a kid I don’t think anyone I knew of who passed away was cremated. The funeral was always […]
A Glimmer of Hope?
Lee died mere months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Hers was a quick and painful death. Since she had many different cancers, I am more familiar than many with this killer. Whereas recent medical advances brighten the outlook for some victims of cancer, for example, people with certain blood cancers are surviving in spite […]
Grief is a Traumatic Brain, Body, and Soul Injury
Hello dear readers…..this is a repost for Liliana while she has been away traveling and tending to her heart and soul. She will be back with you next week and in the meantime my favorite words from this passage: With the passage of time grief gets harder to spot. There are days when I don’t […]
Alone Again, Naturally
I went to the hockey game by myself last night. Round 1, Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for my Vegas Golden Knights. Sold my extra ticket online to a stranger (who didn’t show up for the game) but I was surrounded by young couples having a great time. Our official Golden Knight […]
April 20th
Today, April 20th, is the fifth anniversary of Tony’s death. Yesterday I thew a huge party in his honor. (More on that next week.) As a result, my heart is both empty and overflowing with love. I had a soul cleansing cry at the end of the night (which was technically today). It was good […]
When Your Loved One is 5 Minutes Late
A shared feeling that comes up in conversation in my Widow Fam group is about the heightened sense of worry about a loved one when you do not hear from them when you expected to. For many of us, our minds naturally go to, “Are they dead? It’s possible they died, or something horrific has […]
The House That Won’t Let Go
I know I’ve been writing alot about my home in Georgia lately. It was the home that my late husband, Rich, and I purchased at the beginning of 2020. It still strikes me as how big an adjustment it was for us to move from our homestate of New Jersey to a gated community […]