I recently attended the Soaring Spirits annual board retreat. Each year the board members get together in the same place to brainstorm ideas for the foundation, establish our annual goals, reestablish our focus for the year and just “be together”. Our board meets regularly, once a month, but our meetings are held via Skype because four of us…
widowed friendships
Vive la Vida
There was a time when the idea of “living my life” was an oxymoron. How could I take the advice to live my life when a huge section had been torn out and I was staring in disbelief at the gaping hole left behind? Why make life plans when they can be swept away permanently by a suburban going 50 MPH one summer evening at 5 o’clock? If life is…
You Too
Today is just one of those days where I wanted to talk about how grateful I am for my fellow widows. The women that pull me out of a funk, the women that give me hope, the women that know the unspoken words in my heart, the women that know the depth and never-ending length of my love.I’ve tried to make sure and not imagine the “what-ifs” in life,…
Once In A Lifetime Trips
It’s that time of year. That time where I’m able to fulfill one of the biggest dreams Michael and I had. To travel across the world.I vowed after he died that I would take a once-in-a-lifetime trip once a year. The first being a 220 plus mile backpacking pilgrimage across Spain. The second was in Ireland. And this year I will be hopping around the…
something I didn’t expect
on march 25th, 2008 i had more friends than i’d ever thought i’d have, and more family members than i remembered having.everyone i’d known throughout my life rallied around me in numbers i never could have expected, all of them ready to ready to help me clean my house, (as if i needed a clean house) to feed me (as if i could eat without puking)…
My Widow Match Friend
When Michele and I first met, we were each about 4ish months into the process of widowhood. We connected instantly via email, and eventually became phone friends, only to move onto being a daily touchstone in each other’s lives. We are separated by thousands of miles, but manage to connect in person at least 3 or 4 times a year. We were 36 went we…
The Power of Two
Since I have been widowed, the single most helpful, comforting, hopeful, motivating experience for me has been meeting other widowed people. I can still recall the moment of relief that I felt when I first sat down for a long conversation with another widowed person. Words tumbled out of my mouth in a way they hadn’t before. Suddenly my pain,…
Lying
Ok I admit it. I’ve been lying. Not really lying buuutttttt not telling the full truth. Because well, people look at me funny when I say, “I’m good!” “I’m doing well.” after they ask “How are you?” I interpret their look to mean “but she’s a widow.”While writing lately, I’ve stayed within the imaginary widow party lines…
Friends
For those that really know me, they know how open I am in sharing that a huge percentage of the reason I am still here today, has been due to my friends.Before Michael was killed, my friendships were on a superficial level. This wasn’t to say that I didn’t have long-time friends, but the essence of who I was wasn’t truly understood.The only person…
Come to Camp with Me!
I looked at the calendar last night and realized…I’m leaving for Camp Widow in 5 weeks. 5 weeks!!!! It seems like just yesterday I was packing my bags to head home from last year’s surprisingly fantastic weekend. I was expecting the weekend to be great, we had planned it for months and Michele can make anything fabulous. What I wasn’t expecting…
Parenthesis
As noted last weekend, the 21st marked 3 years since my hero’s death, but tradition continues of being around amazing widows leading up to or after the date. This past week we were in Fayetteville, NC for our annual golf tournament for the organization, followed by our annual AWP Skydive!Like all of our events, we have a definite melting pot of…
Time to Be
I had some time this weekend – me time. Me and Michele time if I’m completely truthful, but it was me time just the same. A couple of days with no cares in the world. This weekend it all came together. A sudden realization that the opportunity was there and so was the free airline ticket. The last minute recruitment of a fabulous Grandma to take…