Life

A collection of 530 posts

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

Life

Wordless Wednesday: My Passions Come Back to Life

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

Life

Wordless Wednesday: Happiness Anew

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'

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,

Life

Widow Wordless Wednesday

Photos courtesy of C. Minnich

Life

Guest Blog: Chillin' With Lemonade

I love connecting with other widows. Love in the sad sense of course. The phrase we often use is that we're sad at the circumstances that brought us together, but we're happy to have one another. I am often flabbergasted at the circumstances that bring people

Life

Wordless Wednesday

I'm BAD at Wordless Wednesdays. But I just set up my Christmas tree, and wanted to share with you my tradition of collecting ornaments from my travels. So now my Christmas tree is quite the memory tree. Enjoy.

Holidays

Turkey Toolkit

Most widow(er)s need more than the good break of a wishbone to survive Thanksgiving, or any holiday for that matter. We must come into the holidays with armor: Kevlar style. Top 10 Things that Should be in ALL Widow(er)'s Turkey Toolkit: 10. The buddy system.

Life

Focus on the Words

When a door closes, however gently, with tons of smiles, hugs, and advice behind them, it still hurts. The fact is, I'm learning I'm not qualified to speak. My widowhood only lends me the ability to share my story, not the opportunity to dole out advice.

Life

Gettin' Through

There are literal things that got me through the first year of widowhood... Soon after Kevin passed, I bought myself new, fun panties. Hawaiian prints, penguins, sparkly butterflies. I was 14 again, and I wanted something HAPPY, so I picked the most un-sexy, girly, kid-like panties I could find. And

Life

Wordless Wednesday

Life

Personal Existence

I recently read this blog which was inspired by a French friend of mine who I met via Sparkpeople.com. She said to me just a few minutes ago that I should read Dr Viktor E. Frankl's book, "Man's Search for Meaning." I immediately

Life

The Dream of Children

I once wanted 4 kids, insane, I know. I was the birth coach for my best friend whose husband was serving as a Marine in Afghanistan. She brought a lovely daughter into the world, and I was happy to attend the birthing classes with her, and be by her side

Life

(slightly) Wordless Wednesday

What we see... What our "new" Widow Family looks like

Life

Gratefulness

I don't know if Maria knows that she's fabulous, but she is. At her blog, I Lost You, she inspires me even more. "We’ve all heard the adage about diamonds, and how they are forged from carbon, ugly and uncut. We all know that

Life

Spunk Never Dies

My late grandmother was SPUNKY. In fact, so spunky, that when I asked my cousins to contribute a few words about her so that I could write a poem to read at her funeral, that word came up again and again. Spunky. The woman had her ways, her mindset, and

Life

What Have I Done to Myself?

I dreamt last night of how old I looked. I'm not 26, not really by any means. Not that I have ever looked my age, as I was once thought to be 16, when I was 13, but dang, grief has aged me. I'm tired. My

Life

Wordless Wednesday

Life

More than We Can Handle

My family and I have heard "God will not give you more than you can handle". Whoever came up with this must have been given a pretty meager plate. My Mom and I, upon discussing this famous phrase, decided we're just hanging on, if we are

Life

Honoring Kevin's Memory Two Years Later

I rarely blog first thing on the morning, but anniversaries tend to change life a bit. Today, actually, at roughly 8:30, marks two years since Kevin took his last breath. Of all the memories I have of Kevin, the unfortunate thing is that the memory of his last moments