Widow's Voice

On St. Valentine’s Day

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A Valentine of the One Left Behind

Couple standing at the end of the world

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 and
how we laughed over potpourri till we cried.”

What does one do about Valentine’s day
If you are the one left behind?

 

Hold onto the past,

live fully now,

until future shows its cards.

 

Something of our love

will show the way,

as grief helps us

grow new eyes.

 

How lucky I was to have you, my love.

Happy Valentine’s Day . . .

Woman leaving man on a bicycle

About Kathie Neff

Kathie Neff was widowed on April 15, 2021. She and her beloved husband, Dan, were high school sweethearts and enjoyed dancing and riding horses together. They lived in gratitude, hope and forgiveness for 50 years and nine months when Dan passed quietly late at night, surrounded by their seven children who, with Kathie, were caring for him in their family home.

Dan and Kathie have been a part of Camp Widow and Soaring Spirits International since its inception, as members of Michele Neff Hernandez’s cadre of helpers from the Neff family.

Kathie believes strongly in the strength and bond that is the gift of community and brings a heart of love for all who have been affected by death and dying.

Long live love. XO