“He promised me he would ‘come back’ to send me a wink or two. We never had the conversation again. Immediately after his death, the number ‘149’ kept popping up exactly in the moments I needed it most. My brain kept saying, ‘This can’t be real.’ It just keeps happening.”
‘I kept repeating, ‘This can’t be real!’ My deceased husband’s badge number kept showing up in places it shouldn’t have.’: Widow gets countless ‘winks’ from late husband, ‘It’s the most beautiful, comforting thing in the world’
‘My dad killed himself, didn’t he? That’s why you cried so much when I was a baby?’: Mom doesn’t let labels define her, ‘I am more than just an amputee or widow’
“I still remember that day. The taste of blood and dirt in my mouth. Later, when I sat up in the hospital bed and felt the missing weight of my right arm, I looked over and saw nothing but a stump wrapped in bandages. It was the most horrific thing I’d seen in my 10 short years. But life moves on, and I slowly gained a sense of new purpose. There was more to me than just one label.”
‘When he died, everyone reminded me ‘once an addict, always an addict.’ After 5 years sober, he bought a pill he thought was Percocet. I’ll never know why.’: Mom of 5 says ‘life after addiction can be so, so beautiful if you let it’
“I fell in love with a man who never put anything before our family, especially not a pill. I am reminded every day, ‘He made a choice. He didn’t have to take that pill, whether he knew it was laced or not. So, stop being sad.’ His life isn’t celebrated the same. His death wasn’t mourned because of how he died.”
‘My husband and I ended up in marriage counseling over a bathroom. Yep, I said. ‘How about aiming IN the bowl? Is it really so hard, fellas?’: Widow urges ‘don’t waste time on things that don’t matter’ after husband dies of pancreatic cancer
“My husband and I had an agreement. We would share chores, INCLUDING cleaning the bathroom. No matter how many times I lost it, wrote it on a chore list, cried, or slammed doors – it just never, ever got done unless I did it myself. I couldn’t understand, and he didn’t have a good answer. So, by God, I dug my proverbial heels in. If he wasn’t going to help me clean those bathrooms, then our-marriage-was-doomed.”
‘I’d been holding back tears all morning. In public, they fell out. A sweet friend saw me go down. She was behind me in seconds.’: Widow urges people to talk about mental health and be ok showing grief in public
“She comforted me while I fell apart. And then, it happened. What always happens when I let anyone see any emotion other than ‘ok’: I got irrationally mad at myself for crying in public. Losing my husband and becoming the soul provider for our daughter has sent me into a deep panic.”
‘He quietly wrote, ‘Before I die, I want to see my Quinn grow up.’ We never thought for a second he wouldn’t.’: Widow shares how husband understood the value of a moment, always ‘showed up’
“20 years from now, your kids won’t care whether you were the most successful person at work. They won’t care whether or not you always made the most responsible choices. The days are long but the years are short. Make them count. Take the trip. Do all the things. Every hope and dream we had for our future together died with him that day.”
‘Who will take care of you when I’m gone?’ It froze me. We were supposed to be planning our camping trip, not his funeral.’: Widow shares touching moment of hope, ‘Don’t give up, your chocolate cake is coming’
“We were still young. His death was not supposed to happen. So, when I woke up to go work yesterday, 4 years after my husband died, I opened up my tired eyes, looked over to my nightstand, and there it was. That white cereal bowl with a slice of chocolate cake in it, left there by the one that came ‘next.’ He knew it had been a rough day. He knew I needed to have 5 whole, quiet minutes to just enjoy something that I love. Because he gets it. He really gets it.”
‘I feel a little nervous.’ Hours later, I got a text from his brother. ‘Mel, I’m so sorry. Scott didn’t make it.’ Huh? My husband is dead in Idaho?’: Woman loses husband to ‘perfect storm’ of complications from tonsillectomy for sleep apnea
“Scott had scheduled surgery to get his tonsils out and his septum straightened out to help get rid of the sleep apnea. He stood up with glazed eyes and said, ‘I feel a little nervous.’ ‘Do you think you’re going to die?’ I thought I was so funny. The last text I sent him that night was, ‘Love you, hope tomorrow is a better day!’ I got a text from his brother. Apparently, my husband is dead in Idaho? This wasn’t real.”
‘Hang tight. He is on his way, and is beyond your wildest dreams.’ A week later, I met the man who would be my fiancé.’: Widow embraces love after loss after late husband dies tragically in ‘mock robbery’
“‘I’m sorry to say this, but your husband died tonight,’ the police officer said. The store was filled with gun powder. I looked across the room to find a pool of blood. Brian was 30 years old. We’d just gotten married only 86 days before. He didn’t realize the gun was fully loaded and shot him in the face.”
‘I know for sure that life is fleeting. It’s short but always beautiful.’: Widow reminds others that ‘love doesn’t end when a loved one dies’ in wake of Kobe Bryant’s death
“I find myself asking, once again, why bad things happen. When I get to heaven, I have a lot of questions for God. I try to never let people wonder how I feel about them, because what if I don’t get the chance to tell them again? Imagine what a wonderful place this world would be if we all were just born understanding how precious life is.”
