Have you ever prayed for “peace in our world”? Or have you wondered when reading the day’s headlines why we can’t all get along? And on the days when the loss of your spouse is so heavy you can’t get out of bed do you think about being an agent of peace?!

I have met so many amazing people on the road of healing. It seems that every day brings another story, another tragic loss, another compadre on the journey towards becoming whole again. And with every person there is the story of the death, and then we enter the next chapter…what do we do know?

How does any of this relate to peace in the far reaches of our world today? Do you know of anything more equalizing than death? Death speaks every language. Crosses all borders. Tears out hearts and levels pride in the same way tsunamis clear away all traces of a previously bustling coastal town. The grim reaper does not discriminate. Brown, white, black, thin, heavy, rich or poor, religious or atheist…we all know the power of death.

And so in that moment when each of us stands powerless in the face of death, we are all the same. And peace must come from a place of understanding, of humanity, of equality~we must be no better and no worse than our enemy. Death gets that.

My personal goal remains to make something positive from the ashes of the loss of a man I love with my whole being, and I believe that widows can be agents for peace every single day. When we apply the lessons grief has taught us to our daily lives, we can’t help but change the world. Your corner, my corner, the corner in Iraq, another in Nepal, one over in South Africa, a piece in Canada, the very corner of France, and a nice section of Australia…you get the picture.