‘I heard a guttural scream and wondered where it was coming from. It was coming from me.”
‘Of course you’re OK!’ He’s 36, the prime of his life! ‘We don’t need sirens.’ Halfway there, the sirens turned on.’: Widow shares grief journey, ‘This won’t define our family’
‘I married him at 21. There were red flags. After 11 years of marriage, we began couple’s counseling. The next day, he fell from a ladder at work. I knew he was going to die.’: Young widow gets second chance at love, ‘There is always reason to find hope’
“I was a widowed, working, single mom. We began chatting on a dating app. 3 days later, I accidentally Face-Timed him, fresh out of the shower and no makeup. I panicked and almost hung up, but felt God whisper, ‘See if he answers.’ The moment I saw his face, I knew he was my person.”
‘Have fun,’ I whispered as he leaned in to kiss me. ‘I will.’ He quietly slipped out for a hike, and never came home.’: Widow shares words of wisdom after late husband’s hiking accident
“There was an ache in my chest as I waited for his return. My experienced hiker, my beloved husband, wasn’t answering my calls or texts. All of this life we loved together vanished in a moment.”
‘Come home. There’s been a plane crash, and they think it’s Mitch.’ He was moments away from landing. I felt my soul leave my body.’: Widow re-marries after loss, ‘Life handed me a second chance at love’
“I dated a few guys, but knew immediately in my gut none were for me. I was content with being a solo mom until both of my kids were grown, but the universe had different plans. On a warm April afternoon, there I was, looking at a man who didn’t seem to fear my past and wanted to apply for a spot in my future.”
‘My mother-in-law was texting me nonstop. ‘Can you meet me?’ She refused to tell me what happened. I got sick to my stomach.’: Young widow shares life after loss, raising late husband’s ‘clone’
“I called Mike’s phone. It went straight to voicemail. In that moment, the air was sucked from my world. All of this was happening while I had a room of 3rd graders. I couldn’t let on that something was seriously wrong.”
‘Suck it up. You’re fine.’ She took a bad fall. I was too traumatized to step foot in a hospital.’: Young widow has realization about ‘grief management’ after daughter crashes bike
“My daughter head-slammed to the ground. It happened when I was in the deepest pain of my life, betrayed and hurt by the one person I thought I could count on after my husband died. I panicked.”
‘Cancer didn’t stop him from being the best dad. If anything, it magnified who he was and what was important.’: Young widow shares husband’s selflessness, despite battling cancer
“We didn’t have two pennies to rub together, so our ‘treat’ was Arby’s. It was so cold, and the employees were trying to kick a homeless man out of the restaurant. Matt walked to the register, bought him a meal, sat it down in front of him, and told him to eat real slow and stay as long as he wanted. There was no one who was immune to the goodness of Matt’s heart.”
‘Why mommy, why my daddy?’ He had an accident. ‘I’m going to do one thing for us. Get married.’: After ‘catastrophic brain injury,’ woman marries fiancé in ICU before his passing
“At 5.30 a.m., a friend was in our bedroom. ‘Wake up, he’s hurt his head!’ His skull was shattered. I collapsed on him and cried like I never cried in my life. How was I going to tell the boys what happened to their daddy? I rang the ICU to tell them of my wishes.”
‘I didn’t know that about you,’ said a patient at work. I was embarrassed to be placed in the same category.’: Widow shares why she carries late fiancé’s Narcotics Anonymous key chains
“My first reaction was to be defensive; my second was the opposite. The second reaction came when I realized why I carry these key chains. Jamie was 5 years sober when he bought a pill he didn’t know was fentanyl, and he died. Jamie was 29 years old. He was a dad to five kids.”
‘You ghosted me when my husband died. You told me I was thinking too much about myself.’: Widow hurt by friends who abandoned her and broke promises
“I don’t know why you made promises and didn’t follow through. I needed my friend… but you were gone.”
