A friend and I were recently talking about the touch deprivation experienced in widowhood. It’s one of those extra layers of loss that not everyone thinks about. But it reminds me of everyone touting the importance of skin-to-skin contact when a new baby is born. We use touch to express affection, and I don’t mean […]
Widowed
Living Alone – Not Lonely
I was recently wasting some more time on instagram. I have to admit, their algorithm has definitely been improved, because what it has been suggesting, has mostly been content I’m genuinely interested in (tons of creative folks making things). However, it randomly showed me a woman who is making rather humorous videos about what people […]
What is widowhood asking of me today?
At 1,748 days out has its question changed? When I walked my husband out to the coroner’s van in our driveway we were 51 years 9 months married. I was sending him off, in the custom of our culture, to a place unknown to me. Saying the first of many goodbyes, I had no […]
Time Wasted?
My time at the beach has been exactly what I needed, even though it has not been exactly what I had planned. Now I could easily beat myself up for all I have not done while here at the beach. All I thought I needed to do. All I had planned to do: Lots of […]
The Dance Crew
Last week, I spent 4 perfect days in Cabo with a handful of my widow friends. It takes a little more work to get to Mexico, so our entire crew wasn’t able to join for this one. But the 5 of us made the most of our time together. Contrary to what an outsider might […]
Cold Morning, Warm Heart
Love is the engine in the many tasks that make up a life. As a lucky grandma, I am called to assist now and again. just one of many privileges that make up my life. Still alive am I, widowed and all. As I near the letting go of my Wednesday blog task of […]
What’s My Purpose?
I try to use the first month of a new year to take a good look at my life … do some deep diving, reviewing, thinking, planning. What’s working well? What do I need to change? What new things do I want to try? What do I need to leave behind? What mistakes have I […]
Respiratory Infection and the Healing Power of Sleep
What day is it, anyway? It feels sort of strange to completely drop out of life and sleep for 2 1/2 days. Turns out it was just the medicine I needed. Hearing about friends who had a terrible cough for weeks on end, I tried using a mask in certain public spaces and crossed my […]
I don’t need no stinking goals … or do I?
I’m a 74 year old twice-widowed gal. What’s the point in putting the effort into setting some goals for 2026? I’m just not feeling it at this point. Can I just plug along with this new alone life, randomly doing something fun or meaningful if it presents itself and I’m feeling up to it? Or […]
New Year. New Widow
My team at work kicks off the week with a quick meeting almost every Monday morning. It’s a quick 15-minute call where we cover the highlights of the upcoming week and who has a birthday or anniversary. Last week was our first one of the new year, and we all expected welcome back pleasantries. Instead, […]
What now?
What’s next for me? Mystery of seasons shows edge of winter waking; another turning. Before its return rising sun pauses unseen; as Life asks for more. A new year begs a plan. What’s next? it asks. What’s new, different, or ahead that’s waiting for me? Grief says, Hold on! Not so fast. […]
Starting the new year alone …
Well, actually the first day of 2026 found me waking up at 6am in my brother’s home in Tennessee. So I wasn’t alone at the very start of this new year – instead I was ending a lovely time with my family before heading to the Knoxville airport and my return to the desert. I […]