Brenda Sieglitz

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Widowhood Alters a Smile

6 months Pre-Widowhood 6 months Post-Widowhood While these were two very different situations-one where Kevin and I were BBQ'ing at Lancaster Central Park, and another where I'm giving a "cheers" to Kevin at our favorite beach. But widowhood has changed my smile. Last night,

Life

Wordless Wednesday - Canadian Pride

Life

Anxiety & Life

I have always been an excitable, worrying, person, but when Kevin became sick, I became an anxious woman. Anxiety attacks began the night of Kevin's first surgery, and have come and gone since that time. 15 months ago, I went on anti-depressants for the first time ever in

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Back to Your "Old" Life

I read a Facebook post of one of my former youth group advisers, whom is battling illness.  She mentioned that she was apprehensive about returning to the routines of her old life, and handling those adjustments.  Immediately it occurred to me that there is no "old" life.  Even

Life

Wordless Wednesday: My Passions Come Back to Life

About Me

Women on the Move

As I continue to expand upon my other writing, please vote for my essay for the Women on the Move travel writing contest! You can vote every day until 1/31 just by clicking "like" on the upper right corner of the page. Click Here to Vote! On

Life

Widows and Dating: Part Three

I'm nearly 9 months into the first major widowhood relationship. It's hard for me to believe that these months have sailed by so quickly. By this time in Kevin & I's relationship we were just about engaged, and we had only "met"

Life

Letter to a New Widow (er)

Dear _________, I read today of how you lost your spouse, and I died a little for you. Everytime I read or hear of another loss of life, my eyes flash to what their wife, husband, or child looks like. I imagine how their mother or father feels hearing the news

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Wordless Wednesday: Happiness Anew

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Super Snow Freak

You could say that I'm a super snow freak. It is something that Kevin did not love about me, or, he enjoyed my spirit, but wished it wasn't for snow! Each year, around November, just as the cold starts to creep in and the Fall leaves

Life

Others Vs. Me

How do I post a post-holiday blog? Do I focus on what was missing this year, what was new this year, what made me ache, what made me cry, what made me smile? This Christmas I had some great holiday moments, and some sad ones too. Being sick didn'

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5 Days of Giving: Day 5 - Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation

On my "final" day of giving this week, I want to touch on a foundation that is really key to this blog and among my reasons for continuing to write and detail my journey through widowhood. When I first lost Kevin, I reached out into a world that

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5 Day of Giving: Day 4 - Lancaster, PA Community!

When I asked my friends which local non-profits could use some help this holiday season, I was bombarded with names of numerous charities, most of which centered around homeless women and children. Lancaster, Pa has four prominent women's shelters that house women and their children, and help teach

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5 Days of Giving: Day 3 - National Kidney Assocation

On day 3 of my 5 days of giving segment, I ask that you first read THIS. Now that you're probably bawling, let me explain a bit about why I chose the National Kidney Association as today's Non-Profit. Just weeks after Kevin died, I attended a

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5 Day of Giving: Day 2 - Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative

On the Day 2 of this non-profit giving series, I'm focusing on an organization that I have been actively involved with in the past year, the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative. The Shrivers, who started this organization, lost their daughter Liddy to Ewing's Sarcoma when she was

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5 Days of Giving: Day 1 - Angiosarcoma Awareness

On this week before the Christmas holiday, I am focusing this week's blogs on how you can give back before the holidays. Figure out a way to cut out 5, 10, 15, 20 or even $500 out of your holiday budget to set aside for organizations that mean

About Me

Shmaccompishments.

2010 started off ruff. It was a really cruddy beginning to the new year, and as my often-pessimistic widda attitude warrants, I wasn't excited for 2010 at all. But then, I won an award for my 2009 article with Associated Content on U.S. healthcare. This was an

Life

Wordless Wednesday

Life

Ideal Christmas

I guess I am finally hitting that point where Christmas is not so much a drag because Kevin is gone, but it's a drag because it's just another "normal" Christmas. Wondering where all the money will come from to buy the presents everyone wants,

About Me

Full Circle

Life comes full circle. Maybe it's too cliche to say that, but today, as I logged on to see if my Profs had posted any grades for the end of the semester, and I saw I earned a 100% on my marketing plan, I thought, wow. I did

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We Didn't Start the Fire

This past week in my city, a woman was burned to death by arson in her home, leaving behind her husband and three children. I died a bit inside. Since then, it seems that fire has ravaged several homes. Some accidental. I try to place myself in their shoes-losing their

Life

Widow Wordless Wednesday

Photos courtesy of C. Minnich

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Widow Connections

This weekend I was surrounded by no less than about 10 widows and widowers. It was more than I ever have been around at one time, other than support groups. Last week, I received a copy of Everence Magazine (PDF) and over my breakfast, read about a widow named Tina.

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'We Never Fought' and other lies Widows Tell

I was so angry, I slammed the door on my out to the front porch.  I sat and stewed for what felt like hours, but it was probably just minutes.  Time took its toll, and when I realized Kevin wasn't coming outside for me, I gave in and

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Wordless Wednesday: Join Red Campaign

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