This past week marked an important milestone in my widowed process. It was a year ago on a hot August day, with only Quint by my side, that I made an appointment with a realtor to look at three properties in a small rural town in the Lake District of Central Florida two hours south […]
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Tales From the Tiny Trailer
As of this writing I’m enjoying the 3rd outing in my tiny teardrop trailer. I suspect it won’t be long before I quit numbering the trips I make with it. As I sat by the campfire this evening I marveled at the little thing. I really own a tiny trailer! And not just any tiny […]
Avoiding Solitude
I was in my front yard with Lola the pup when I noticed Allie, who lives in the blue house across the street, standing and looking out of her living room window. She is holding tiny Baby Etta, whom she and Drew recently welcomed back in late June, around the same time as my birthday. […]
Camp Widow 2.0
We’re Hitting the Road! If you are brand new here you might be asking What is Camp Widow? “Camp Widow blends elements of three event styles: a conference format, an inspiring retreat, a reunion with great friends.” Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation My path to Camp Widow was immediate and logical. As a long-time […]
Well, my Daddy is Dead.
Yesterday Charlotte took me by surprise. As we were getting ready for a birthday party I had said something to her about pooping and out of nowhere and just randomly she responds to me by saying, “Well, my daddy is dead”. It stopped me right in my tracks. First, anytime I hear Daddy in our […]
Releasing Some Jealousy
I often notice couples’ togetherness as I travel the spaces of my life as a single person. That’s likely because I am not wholly comfortable in my singlehood. I am independent and capable of being solo. However, I enjoyed being married and partnered. When I spot a young couple drunk on love, I feel nostalgic. […]
Things That Never Happened
Every once in awhile, I will be going about my day and my life, and then something will happen where it shines a big bright spotlight about all of the loss and all of the things that never happened in my life and all of the ways that I am “different” than my friends. This […]
Finding Family
Reunions of any kind can stir up all kinds of thoughts and feelings – happiness, nostalgia, a desire to connect, and inevitably sadness due to the fact that reunions can remind us of those who are no longer here with us. My parents met in New Jersey – my mom a coal miner’s daughter […]
Summer Memories
Can’t believe it’s already August as another year seems to be flying by here. August is the county fair month here and it always reminds me how much Mario loved sketchy carnival rides. He kind of had the same approach to those as regular amusement park rides, flying on airplanes, or anything else where the […]
Cat Ladies
A recent Pew poll of people of different ages who don’t have biological children (see https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/07/25/the-experiences-of-u-s-adults-who-dont-have-children/ 7/25/24) suggests this circumstance is more common nowadays than when I came up. I could go into detail trying to explain how my situation evolved, but why bother? Today I am seventy-three years old and don’t plan to become […]
Feeling all the Feels
How Grief Impacts Feelings At age 26, I received a helpful definition for feelings. You may be thinking that could be a bit late in life to receive information about something that impacts life on a daily basis and you would be right. Regardless of timing, I gratefully received this definition. “Feelings are spontaneous, inner […]
Never Alone
I remember my first Camp Widow like it was yesterday. It was around 8 months after Erik had passed. I was sitting on the same couch that I couldn’t seem to move from and had this overwhelming feeling that I was all alone. There wasn’t anyone in my circle that was a widow and at […]