There is a Fleetwood Mac song called “Say Goodbye,” that has broken my heart repeatedly over the last four years. I have found the concept of saying goodbye to Phil so difficult that I have avoided it like the plague since he died. You see, there are still speed bumps on this road of grief that I have yet to cross over.Phil and I were blissfully…
Widowed and Healing
Our “Invincible Summers”
Last week when I was posting to this blog I saw the following quote in the right hand column of the Widows Voice website. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” Albert Camus Albert Camus died in 1960. His life was not easy. His father died when he was an infant and he was raised in extreme…
A Life Altered
Still, I am taken back when someone in David’s life has just learned of his death. How could they not have known??! Shouldn’t anyone who had ever come in contact with him during his life have felt the earth pause the moment he passed away? As if the earth should have been altered if he no longer walked upon it. Dramatic, I know. It’s the best…
What Friends Are For
I’ve spent the holiday weekend in Cali with the other Michele and head back to Texas today. Although the weekend has been packed with activities (sushi night out, a long and beautiful walk, visits with family, a day at the beach, etc.), we’ve managed to cram in some fantastic talks and some really great quality time.In one of our many…
Wishing
I sometimes wonder what would happen if all the wishes people made on stars came true. Where would my life be today if my whims were met by the imaginary wish granter in the sky who hears the things our hearts whisper when we witness those flashes of light across the night sky? One thing is certain, my heart has definitely not been whispering over…
Ouch
I have been on my back for the last 3 weeks or so, nursing an inflamed sacroiliac joint. What a pain! Literally. Every turn and twist, every journey to the bathroom (all of 25 painful feet) and every trek to the kitchen elicits mild and not-so-mild expletives. Thankfully, my daughter is in school and the walls are my only witness. Of course, lots…
Finding Our Way
(Editor’s note: Janine will be away for the next two weeks and we are happy to welcome visiting contributor Colleen Phillips as our Wednesday blogger in her absence. Thanks Colleen!) A warm hello. Since Rory died almost 5 years ago, it seems as if we have been trying to find our way, figure things out and be a family of “2”. Ryan, my son, had…
Do I Want a New Happy Place?
For the past ten years, my vision of my happy place has been the same: a tiny beach on the island of Caye Caulker, Belize. Daniel and I spent 14 fantastic days there in the summer of 1999. At the worst of times when I have wanted to scream “calgon take me away”…this little oasis is the picture in my mind’s eye. I haven’t been back there since…
Sometimes Healing Hurts
When a friend is sick you hope they will get well soon. If you know someone who has cancer, you might pray fervently for them to be cured. After you’ve had surgery, a friend might call to tell you they hope you will heal quickly. But what about when someone dies. What do we wish then? After Phil’s death I feared getting better. I didn’t want to get…
As Promised… Question #19
When did you clean out your husband’s closet? (For our new readers: Over the past several years I have interviewed many widows about their day-to-day life after the loss of their husbands. I asked all of the women I spoke to the same fifty questions, all practical inquiries about everyday life. Many readers have asked me to share my answers to…
I can’t stop thinking about David.
Not that I actually try. But today it’s more like he is ALL I’m thinking about. Even when his beauty fills my mind I can’t help but feel partial. Like someone tore off my legs and somehow…I’m still living. I’ve wondered from day one (of widowhood) how long I’d survive this life. “Time” I no longer understand nor try to comprehend. I can…
A Lighter Shade of Grey ….
Today’s post is really for all of the “newer” women who are on this path …… the one we didn’t want to be on, the club we didn’t want to join. I was trying to think of what to say to a new friend whose husband died a few months ago. She is in the middle of what I call the “black”. I am not a veteran in this process, by any stretch of the…