It’s easy to get caught up in our own losses and forget that death impacts everyone. You look around at the grocery store and think you are the only widow buying hamburgers you’ll probably burn again. At the Dr’s office, it’s easy to assume the rest of the dads are at work. On vacation, every […]
Widowed Emotions
When the Time is Right, So is the Dog
Recently, I found myself telling a good friend that dogs have often been an emotional life raft for me during challenging and lonely times, offering me a comforting space on which to rest and recover while needing to navigate the ever-changing currents of turbulent waters. First there was Hooper. In 2001, while sitting alone and […]
The Call and Response
When Traveling the Path of Grief The path we each travel to make our way through the daily ins & outs of our grief is personal and unique. As widowed people, our paths are often similar, yet different. On August 28, 2025, my husband’s birthday comes round, yet again, marking 75 years since he arrived. […]
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 […]
Memories and Milestones
Yesterday, the condo unit where I lived and worked in Hackensack, NJ, once-upon-a-time, was sold. I’ve written about this building before because it holds so many memories for me, especially now living such a very different life far from a place that is still very special to me. I purchased that one-bedroom unit with my […]
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. […]
If I Could Tell You One More Thing
It’s been 2,266,454 minutes since you left. In 31,784 minutes, it will be your birthday. I’m curious . . . if I could tell you just one more thing, in person, what would I choose to say? I’d love to look into your eyes again and lean in close. I’d love to see […]
Ocean Beckons
With Deep Medicine During Dan’s illness and throughout his last days on earth, the ocean brought me comfort. Words fail to capture how much it helped me, but it was something about the immensity of the sea. Boundless immensity. Unfathomable depths. Powerful enough to kill and mysteriously gentle. Home to millions of sea creatures within […]
More Than Just Stuff
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a friendship that was falling apart. It escalated to the point that I have been unfriended on social media, and I am met with silence in public settings. Then I realized they had something of ours. I spent a lot of mental energy trying to figure out how […]
Summer of Daddy
Lately, the twins have been mentioning Daddy more often than usual. It started with Wyatt wanting to look at picture books of him each night for their bedtime story. Then, during nap time the other day, Charlotte was mumbling ‘daddy, daddy’ in her sleep and woke up crying. And lately, they have been singing the […]
Letting Go
Again My son surprised me when he seemed surprised himself when I said “I’m giving away Dad’s chair.” His face witnessed to his inner reaction. It was unexpected his desire to hold on to the recliner. It’s been four and a half years and I thought if one of the kids wanted it […]
Redesigning Home
Recently I had the urge to make updates around the house. However, I lost my favorite handyman when I lost Tony. (Spoiler alert, it was him.) Hiring someone to do the work is intimidating. It’s more expensive than I’m used to since we used to just pay for the materials and he would do 95% […]