Welcome to our Blog
Whether you’ve been widowed six months or six years, the grief and pain of losing a spouse or partner never goes away. Join me as I share my own story and those of others from the young and widowed community. Let me know what topics hit close to home, which posts you draw strength from or how you’ve been inspired to keep moving through the overwhelming pain. It’s a place where you’ll always feel connected, knowing there are other young widows and widowers across the globe who understand the many emotions that come with being young and widowed.
To The Widow Who Lost Her Spouse to COVID
The world didn’t see it coming, and neither did you. When you started hearing talks about the virus becoming a pandemic, never once did you assume it would hit close to home, not your home. Perhaps your concern was more so for your elderly parents as they were most...
What I’ve Learned Reading 7,000+ Obituaries
I am preparing to add the 8,000th member to my online support group for young and widows and widowers. I continue to be inspired by the resiliency of the group, despite the heavy toll of death being the tie that binds us all together. As a prescreening/safety measure,...
Spare the Widowed Community Your Judgment
You weren’t there when I told myself I’d never love again. You weren’t there when the guilt told me I didn’t deserve to be loved again. You weren’t there when the longing to be held and touched washed over me. You weren’t there as I struggled to recapture my past yet...
You Never “Get Over” a Loss
No matter where you are in the world, I’ll always get to you… I told my husband those words almost a decade ago and even though he died eight years ago, my heart, soul, and spirit still seek him out Last night, I had another one of those dreams The one where you...
Breathing Through The Pain
There are days where the magnitude of my lossTakes me right back to that phone callTo that longing to get to youTo that first realization that you were gone. Then as the pain of your loss washes over me,I remind myself to breathe… Breathe through your deathBreathe...
Widowing and Social Distancing: Tips for Staying Connected
Widowhood is already isolating, and now with social distancing, it can be an even lonelier existence. Here are a few tips to stay active, engaged, and connected: Remember this too shall pass – Though it might get worst before it gets better, know we will get to a...
10 Things You Shouldn’t Speak On – Widowed Edition
I was reading an article over on MadameNoire entitled “Life Will Humble You: 10 Things You Shouldn’t Speak On If You Haven’t Experienced Them.” While it was a pretty good list, I was a bit disappointed the loss of a spouse wasn’t on the list. It seems widowhood goes...
10 Times You Were Inconsiderate (or Downright Rude) to the Widow in Your Life
1. Referring to a late-spouse as an ex – Dead isn’t synonymous with an ex-partner. The terms are not interchangeable. Read it again. Not the same. EVER. 2. Comparing the loss of your (insert everything from second cousin once removed to pet worm) to the death of a...
Widow Judgment
I’m not sure what it is about widowed people dating that makes those around us feel it’s open season to judge and offer their two-cents about our lives and marriages. This is even more upsetting when it comes from members of the widowed community. While I respect your...
Three Unique Ways to Support a Widowed Person
Encourage Us to Take a Chance When you lose a spouse, your fears, insecurities, and anxieties are often magnified. Widowhood can become a constant state of worry—everything from raising well-adjusted children to finances. Even if things are progressing as well as can...
You Judge But Have No Idea…
While you’re busy judging the widowed person in your life, please know… The vacation photos may be his attempt not to feel suffocated in a house that no longer feels like home, especially during the holidays. The excessive attention given to her children may be...
Give Yourself a G.I.F.T. this Holiday Season
The holidays are a time of togetherness and family traditions. It’s even been dubbed the “most wonderful time of the year.” But for many in the widowed community, it can be filled with grief, loneliness, and reminders of our loss. Once solid relationships with family...
If You Love Me, Acknowledge My Grief
If you love our laughter, it’s because we’ve known the heartache of loving and losing. It’s because we’ve gotten to a place where laughter didn’t feel like a betrayal; where laughter didn’t hide the tears and frustrations. We’ve fought through the guilt and now...
To The Widow Who Came Before Me
Back in 1997, I never thought of her as a widow. We were on the cusp of adulthood, about to graduate from the high school that brought us together.We didn’t run in the same circles but had friends in common.It was March of that year when tragedy struck our...
The Real Deal on Dating a Widow
There have been many articles written about dating someone who has lost a spouse. You’ll hear about our heart expanding to let more love in, and how we’ve learned a deeper appreciation for love and life. Those are all facts. But, there are also a few...
Grief Timelines: Fact vs. Fiction
Ask anyone who is widowed and they will tell you they’ve gotten no shortage of advice - from family, friends, in-laws, other widows and widowers, and some people not even qualified to give a dog a command. But how do you know what’s fact and what’s...
4 Questions Young Widows Are Tired of Answering
Why are you always talking about your dead spouse? We talk about those we love to honor their memory. Though you may have gotten back to your life the moment you got home from the funeral, we’re left with death and its aftermath. We struggle to make sense...
10 Lessons Widowhood Has Taught Me
1. You Can Go On Even When You Feel Like Giving Up I honestly didn’t think I’d survive the first month of being widowed, yet here I am… 88 months later. The sad, broken part of me couldn’t see myself climbing out of the rawest stage of my grief. There were many times...