This week, I am waiting for the upside of the grief wave. I can feel myself coming up for air. I am depleted, and I feel like my ability to bounce back is slowing down or something. With all the dates that are heavy and big for us this time of year, and all the […]
Widowed and Healing
It’s been a year of Yin and Yang
shock & grief / hope ~ ups / downs ~ hurt feelings / kindness unexpected disappearances / lovely returns lots of tears / but also some laughter loneliness / community ~ isolation / travel I made it through all of those “firsts” since Jim died – and all of those memories of […]
Widow Friends Expect Less
Recently, I was able to take a quick trip to Las Vegas and catch up with a few of my widow friends. With only 4 of us, we had a small group for this trip. But it always fills my heart to be with them. We came into the weekend with zero plans since in […]
Happy National Black Dog Day! 🐕🦺
I am still not sure how we got so lucky. She came to us two days before our lives were forever changed, and I KNOW she is an angel in a dog’s body. Don’t ask me how I know this -because I don’t know- but tomorrow Thursday is National Black Dog Day. So this beauty […]
Thank You, Calgary
What a perfect place for me to be during this hard week of loss and memories … a beautiful park just a few blocks from my hotel, those incredibly beautiful lakes in and around the Banff National Forest, reconnecting and meeting in person some of the widowed friends I met online back in 2020 during […]
Missing Him Until My End- A Repost
Happy Monday. Emily is off with her widow crew and I hope they are having a wonderful time together, enjoying their connection and being in community. I have always loved this piece she wrote so I am sharing it with you today in her absence. ~Mary Moore Hughes We grieve because we love and […]
This is the week …
Posting this blog 16 years to the day after Vern passed … and spending this important week here in Calgary, Canada, honoring both Vern’s and Jim’s passings. Vern died September 22, 2010 … Jim died September 26, 2025 I do find it rather amazing that my loss dates fall within the same week, as do […]
Vacation Loading…
I will get to see some of my widow friends soon! I cannot wait to give them all hugs and spend a few days catching up in person. But first, we must get there and only one of us has an empty nest. I am looking forward to it, but I have a lot of […]
A “Weekness” for Dogs
September brings a month of mixed-emotions for me. This week for instance, I was reminded that five years ago, Rich and I were headed from Georgia to a family wedding in Virginia then on to New Jersey to help clean out our family home in New Jersey. We also made a trip to the Jersey […]
Falling 🍂
I have always loved fall 🍁 One of our favorite seasons as a family, with the chilly mornings, vibrant colors, coffee, fire pits, pumpkin patches, fall festivals, Halloween and, of course, Thanksgiving. I find it amazing how our bodies and souls, so deeply connected, remember the injuries inflicted on them, as soon as the weather […]
September Morn …
Stay with me awhile I only wanna talk with you Losing Jim has brought back many of the feelings I had when I lost Vern nearly 16 years ago. Of course, those feelings never really went away but were tucked in a safe space most days. Perhaps this is a blessing. Both of my men […]
I Think You’d Be Proud of Me…
There’s a trend going around where people are videotaping someone with their birthday cake. As they sit there, their loved ones put a lighted candle in the cake, and tell them what THEIR wish for the birthday celebrant is. Example: “I wish you happiness this year.” “I wish you continued success in your career.” “I wish […]