It is my pleasure to introduce you to our new Sunday blog author, Kim T. Hamer. Five months ago Kim lost her husband, Art, to cancer. She was his caregiver. She is the mother of his children. She is a working professional, an unwillingly single mom, a bright and energetic lady, and a powerful writer. And we will experience all of this, and more,…
Widowed Effect on Family/Friends
What Not To Say
OK …. forgive me, but I’m cheating today. I’m copying a post I put on my blog over a year ago … just a couple of months after Jim died. I’ve had several requests to post it again, which I did on my blog earlier this year, and I thought I’d post it here, too. It was a list of the top things that my children and I did NOT need to hear, but did,…
New Adventures
This is a picture from my vacation last week. I’d love to tell you all that it was the most fantastic trip I’ve ever been on. That, however, would be a lie. It was mostly …. not fun. It was mostly ….. lonely. It was mostly …. painful. I really, really needed Jim there. But there is no answer for that need ….. and so I move…
The truth?
Have you ever had to lie to protect yourself? To protect what’s left of you? I thought I was ready to go back to work 3 months after David was killed. I have no particular logic as to why I thought it was time to mingle with the “others” but I assumed if I just refused eye contact I’d be OK. In my line of work, you see the same people maybe once…
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…