Living in the Midwest, BBQ is a food group and a hobby. I’ve shared before that Tony loved to smoke and had a BBQ team. He also shared that love with others and built a community of competitors. One of the people he drew into that world was his boss. A few weeks ago, his […]
Widowed Effect on Family/Friends
Magical Powers
Today I opened an assignment one of my kids participated in for school. The question posed to these middle schoolers was: If you had to choose one magic power for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why would you choose this power? This assignment was completed on a discussion board of sorts, […]
Family Business
I hadn’t seen Paul and Joanne since their grandson’s birthday party in July, so I was looking forward to having lunch together this past Wednesday. They were both looking fit, I thought, having obviously lost weight since our last encounter. I made a mental note that each had left a few forkfuls of food on […]
I No Longer Need My / Our Burial Plot
My close friend, J’s, husband passed away a few years ago. Lynn and I were very close to them, and when we would go out, we all joked that people would think the “couples” in our group were actually J and I, and Lynn and my friend’s husband. We just naturally would pair off when […]
Curiosity of 5 Year Olds
“Are you going to die, Mama?” Those words cut through me like a knife as my entire body went motionless. I looked at that sweet face that was looking back at me, not realizing the impact her question had on me. My mind blanked for a second, not knowing how to answer back, and then […]
An Insightful Gift
Last weekend I got to spend time with one of Tony’s best guy friends. He was the best man at our wedding level bestie and someone we have both been friends with since high school. We don’t get to see each other often because life is busy when you each have 3 kids at home. […]
Thanks for “Logging” in
I sometimes wonder if I’m not boring everyone with my abundant log cabin photos and posts about my experience of running off to live in the woods not long after Rich’s passing. It’s a major part of my post-widowed experience, and my processing, however, so I write on. Next week marks the two year anniversary […]
“I want to give your kids the world.”
A repost! As the twins’ birthday trip nears I have found myself caught in a whirlwind of emotions. More so than normal. Any time I’m getting ready for a trip I find myself thinking of Erik more often than I already do. So why do I continue to do it? Because traveling also makes me […]
Why I Strive
I have volunteered to lead occasional tours of my neighborhood for out-of-town visitors. The goal of the not-for-profit organization that is sponsoring these neighborhood tours is to promote understanding among people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. I was required to submit a formal application, which is pending. However, based on my experience as a volunteer […]
Making Lemonade
It’s been 2 weeks, and I have been a bad widow, off doing widow things with this widow brain of mine. Week 1 totally spaced the Monday blog duty. Week 2, forgot to email and ask for a repost since I was out of town. Bad widow brain. Right before school started, I took the […]
No Place Like Home
Lola the Wonder Dog and I departed from home two weeks ago on a Sunday to make the six-hour drive to Craig and Donna’s lakeside place. Lola is a terrific car dog. I occasionally had to glance over my shoulder just to be sure I hadn’t inadvertently left her behind at a gas station. It […]
Care of Self – Care for Others
Finding Balance Along the Path of Grief Is it just me? Or does widowhood feel like school sometimes? Autodidactic daily learning? Today my self-led course is about balancing care for others with care for myself. Not a new course, but one of many lessons that keeps returning until I (quote) get it right? Not sure. […]