… a story from 2023.

                                         Two widows, two rocks, two husbands—integrity twice remembered.

It was September of 2022 in Denver at the local community college. A widow, finding no support options in Mississippi, arrives via a road trip where Soaring Spirits is offering a one-day experiment: a tried-and-true program for widowed people in a brand new format called a “pop-up.”

What was the new widow thinking when she arrived? She did not know a soul and discovered the program online. Exhausted by grief, and the long drive, she stands under the stairwell to catch her breath.

A different widow, at the same location, flew in the night before from Riverside, California. Her widowed brain sorted through the doubt that was her new best friend since losing her person. As a Camp Widow Ambassador she was there to watch for new “campers” coming in that may look lost, or overwhelmed. Her new friend, doubt, asked: Would she know the right thing to say?

each one “took a big step” to show up

Everyone present, those arriving new to their loss and those who’d attended a Soaring Spirits event in the past, stepped into their own version of “discomfort” or “nervousness” to show up in the hope of tending to the crippling grief of losing their person.

A surprise element arrived: serendipity.

The two widows meet under the stairwell and speak of the loss of their husbands and their desire to come to Camp Widow to sort out their grief; to look their grief in the eye and ask the hard questions. Coffee may have been offered; details for the day exchanged. The widow there for the first time moves on to the registration table while the second widow watches for anyone who appears lost or in need of a friendly face.

each came to Camp Widow to begin to sort out their grief

It’s impossible to describe what happens next, but those who’ve attended a Camp Widow event describe it as life-changing.

Inspirational talks and self-selected relevant workshops include tips for what to do when grief surprises you out of nowhere. How to muster courage to keep going. After a closing ceremony where everyone chose a word for their missing partner…a word to describe their essence…the two widows find each other to say goodbye.

They are surprised to find that the rocks they created featured identical words for their husbands—integrity.

                                                                   Colorado Camp Widow Pop-Up September 2022

 

And if that is not enough synchronicity for one story, fast forward to Camp Widow Tampa in March of 2023. Melody and Kathie (the names of said widows) meet at the beginning of the weekend, neither knowing that the other would be there. A joyful reunion!

a deja vous moment

Throughout the weekend, each of them followed the path of their needs and occasionally would see one another and wave or grab a quick hug. Several times they shared the story of how they met at the pop-up in Colorado and wrote the same word for their husbands.

On the last night, which provided another opportunity to say our person’s name to honor them, the two friends, Melody & Kathie, and all the participants, randomly picked a word from vases full of these four words: Faith, hope, joy, and love.

In a final moment of serendipity, linking Colorado 2022 to Florida 2023, Melody and I found out that from separate sides of the room we each picked the same word!

Joy!

       Melody and Kathie – Camp Widow, Tampa – March 2023

 

And that, my friends, is synchronicity!

Long live Camp Widow!

Long live love!