It’s a hell of a thing when a week contains both the anniversary of your spouse’s death and Valentines day. Super Bowl Sunday I went over to my mom’s house. At some point while watching the game, she said, “It’s been exactly 6 months since your dad passed.” She was quiet for a little bit […]
Widowed
On St. Valentine’s Day
A Valentine of the One Left Behind What does one do about Valentine’s day If you are the one left behind? It feels pretty wretched when February returns and Saint Valentine’s Day marks time. “Remember when we went to Running Springs?” I ask, recalling the cabin’s surprise. “When you mused about dead flowers in bowls […]
Haircuts and Control
The last few weeks I have been feeling anxious on a broad scale. We all know there is a limit to what we can control. The death of a loved one is a sharp reminder of that fact. To combat my anxiety, I have been taking steps to put my house in order. Doing what […]
4 Year Anniversary
As we’re coming up on the 4th anniversary of Mario’s grand exit from this life, I’m thinking back to Feb 10th, 2021 and where I was, mentally and emotionally. I’m just going to repurpose something I wrote back then. I’ve since expanded on some of the memories and adventures mentioned in other posts, but there […]
The One and the Many
Tai Chi and Widowhood The year twenty twenty-five is the year of Tai Chi for me. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10am, my friend and I step into a room with about twenty other seniors and follow the instructors as they lead us through a half-hour practice of Tai Chi. Classes are about 10 […]
Sea of Serendipity
A repost! Whew! It has been a hectic few weeks. I feel like I’m always in survival go-go-go mode where I’m just going through the motions of doing things without really being fully present in what I’m doing. I guess it comes with the territory of being a solo parent. Lately, I’ve been trying to […]
Let Them
Last week I jumped on the bandwagon and listened to the book “The Let Them Theory” by Mel Robbins. I was intrigued after hearing a teaser online. Grief is usually the only self-help style book I pick up and finish. I downloaded the audiobook, set it at 1.4x speed and I was off to the […]
Just start writing …
Advice given to writers when they’re stuck and they don’t know what to write is, just start writing. And so, I am. Writing is something I’ve been doing for a very long time. When I was just a small child, my mom would buy me notebooks so I could write stories in them. I don’t […]
What is Story?
How does story impact grief? The personal narrative of our life, often called Our Story, belongs to only us. Others may have shared life with us, but our perspective and interpretation is ours alone. We humans are meaning-makers and our mind is geared to make conclusions about the problems, pleasures, and predicaments we face over […]
Lunar New Year Eve Reflections
As I sit here finishing my preparations for the Lunar New Year tomorrow I can’t help but look back on this past year. Lunar New Year has always been one of the most important holidays to our family next to Christmas and 4th of July. It was one that I welcomed Erik to be a […]
Simple Pleasures
Everyone is ready for January to be over. There are jokes online about how this month feels never ending. Record cold and snow for some of us, and devasting fires for others. It has not been a great month. However, I’m not ready to roll out the red carpet for February either. Halfway through that […]
A Deeper Look
How Am I? Last week’s post skimmed the surface of a deep-dive topic. In some ways, the question “How am I?” is a question relevant in the aftermath of any significant trauma or loss. The bloggers on Widow’s Voice come forward with how life looks and feels for them in hope that you might find […]