“Eight years ago today, Soaring Spirits was founded. The idea for this organization was written on a napkin.Personal experience inspired each of our founding board members to agree to serve. We felt sure that hope mattered, that access to hope could change the lives of widowed men and women.Together we set about creating a space built for…
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Pre-planning your Emotional Response to Death…Ain’t it Precious?
“When my husband goes, I’m not going to hang on to my grief. I’m celebrating the time I had with him and the memories. Each and every person deals with it in his or her way, but I don’t think my husband would want me to be sad and carry that burden. I told my husband if I go before him, re-marry with my blessing and don’t spend time…
Everything’s The Same
This week, I am staying in Massachusetts at my parent’s house, I haven’t been here since December, when I was here for an entire month to help my mom through her cancer surgery / hysterectomy recovery (she is totally fine and clear now), so it’s been almost 5 months since I have seen my family. Since I was born and raised in small town…
It Took Me Ten Years
Sunday morning I decided to clean out my pajama drawer. Knowing I tend to be a bit of a clothes hoarder (imagine if I’d saved all my clothes from the 80’s!), I went about my task with the internal mantra, “If you haven’t worn the item in one year give it away.” That philosophy worked well until I dumped a pile of clothes on the floor to sort, and…
The 5-Year Itch
This July 13th will be the 5-Year mark. 5 years since my beautiful husband Don, left for work, and never came home. 5 years since I got that terrible bone-chilling phone call that jarred me awake at 6:30 am, and changed my life forever. 5 years that I have been a widow. In addition to this being my fifth year of widowhood, it also brings with it…
The Champ
So let’s get right to it. For the first 3.5 years after my beautiful husband died, the very idea of dating or “someone else” literally made me sick to my stomach. It made me feel physically ill, and I couldn’t even discuss it without having a slight panic attack. Around the beginning of year 4, there was a slight shift inside me, for no reason…
Being a Widowed Mom
Revisiting a blog I wrote about six years ago. Wow has the time flown. But, these words still ring so true for me. Raising grieving kids has been one of the most difficult experiences of my life. And yet, I didn’t seem to break my kids or ruin them or doom them to a life of despair, somehow we all made our way through the death of our Phil…
Prince Died Today. And I Can’t Tell You.
When the person you thought you would spend your whole life with is dead, there’s this weird thing that happens each and every time a person of fame or celebrity dies. It kind of goes something like this: Holy Shit! Prince died! I have to tell Don, he LOVED Prince! Oh, shit. I can’t tell Don that Prince is dead, because Don is dead too. Well,…
Ride the Wave
So it happened. Yesterday happened, and Im still here. Still breathing. Still alive. Yesterday was April 13th, exactly 4 years and 9 months since my husband’s sudden death. Why is this so significant? Because Don and I got to enjoy the honor of being husband and wife, for exactly 4 years and 9 months. Then, on an ordinary Wednesday much like…
And so they danced
Today our Widow’s Voice blog is sharing the words of John Wiggers. John wrote this story about his sister-in-law Wendy, whose liveliness and spunk touched everyone she met. What John didn’t know as he wrote these words honoring Wendy’s life, was that his wife Teresa, their children Brad, Kevin and Alison, and everyone who knew and loved John, would…
Back to Start
My heart hurts tonight. And last night. And the night before. It just hurts. I feel sad. I feel scared. I feel everything. Remember those first few weeks and months after the loss, when you literally spent all of your time going from sobbing so hard that you gave yourself a migraine – to sitting on your bed or in a chair and staring at the…
Year of New Eyes
Im not sure quite how to say this without sounding all “Oprah”, but for me, this year of 2016, feels like an important year. It feels like it already is and will be an important year in my life, for many reasons. And when I type that, a small part of me gets the chills, because I really need to be more specific when I say things such as that and…