Dear Wonderful Widows! Clients often ask me if I can recommend books – books that will help them understand their grief and help them feel less alone. There are many such books available.I don’t know about you, but when I was a new widow I was unable to concentrate long enough to read much of anything so I needed books that were easy to read and…
Widowed by Illness
In Sickness and in Health
I have many memories of hospitals from the months of Daniel’s cancer treatment. I was at every appointment, every procedure, in some cases I was Daniel’s voice because the nurses and doctors weren’t always patient enough to understand his altered speech. I remember him telling me how much he appreciated me being there, and how much it meant to him…
Still Looking for Signs
The weather on the day of Daniel’s funeral was spectacular. It was early November, 75 degrees and beautifully sunny. When they covered his grave, all of the funeral flowers were placed on top of it. Although the service was long over, family and friends still lingered, and no one seemed ready to leave. I know for me it was a finality I wasn’t yet…
I saw him…
I saw him. Seven months after he died, I saw him. I was standing outside the Coffee Obsession, and I swear to God, I saw him. It was Mike. He was about three blocks away and talking to a lady. I couldn’t see who she was, but it looked like he was giving her directions as he pointed down the street. I stood frozen. I knew it wasn’t him. It…
Birthday Thoughts
Tomorrow is Daniel’s 39th birthday. I haven’t seen him since he was 35, and that thought surprises me in a way that seems ridiculous. I know he’s been gone three and a half years, but not seeing him since he was 35? “Inconceivable!” The passage of time is a mystery to me. There are moments when it seems like he just left, and others when it feels…
Widows Loving Again
Dear Wonderful Widow. What did it feel like the first time someone reassured you that you would find love again, that you would find another man, and that it was just a matter of time? The first person who mentioned the possibility of a new love to me, well, I wanted to break her legs. Ok, maybe this is a little extreme, but it was only a few…
Team Dippel
When my husband received his third and final cancer diagnosis in the fall of 2005, he decided to formalize his support team and designed a T-shirt that he intended to make and pass out to his posse. His shirt read: “Team Dippel, Living to Fight – Fighting to Live” on the front and on the back it read: “Fight to be Cancer Free in 2006”.
Meet Mie Elmhirst
Hello Wonderful Widows. I often do things a little backwards…now is no exception. Last week I wrote an article for this blog on widows and teens. I was a stranger in your midst. This week I will let you who I am. I was widowed in 2000 when I was 47 and Mike was 52. Our daughter was 7 years-old, and his daughter, my step-daughter, was 25. Now they…
Hi there Sassy! Spicy here…. :)
Thanks for the wonderful introduction Tacalla! For those of you unfamiliar with the term, tacalla is a word which means two things that share the same name. We Michel(l)es have happily embraced the word and made it our own.I’m looking forward to sharing this blog with Michele, as we have shared so many other paths on this widow’s journey. It has…