Wow. Another month
down! Time is flying by and at the same
time crawling so slowly.
I celebrated the month down mark by going to the zoo with my wonderful neighbors
I celebrated the month down mark by going to the zoo with my wonderful neighbors
April also marks the 1 yr anniversary of the untimely departure
from this Earth of a dear friend.. RIP Cory Zablosky ~ July 21, 1977 - April 18, 2012
I am friends with
his girlfriend, wife, and now widow… Michele DeWitt. We attended Wildlife Classes together at
Texas A&M. His death was the second
time I've had to deal with the thoughts of our limited time here with our
friends, family, loved ones. I was
shocked, saddened, and my heart ached for Michele.
Those thoughts led to my reliving Brad’s return from Iraq
in Nov. 2005 – it was so long ago and yet still feels like yesterday. Those moments are burned in my brain. As much as I hate to admit it, certain events
in my life – change my course of direction permanently.
For example: my first big car accident in
2001 caused me to have a fear of and avoid highways if at all possible. Managing to exist and survive thru that week in November - changed my
fun loving, carefree "nothing bad can happen" attitude into a cautious, anxious,
slightly scared one. I realized how close I was to losing the other half of my soul.
I feel I have to limit my risk taking, to be able to extend
my time here. Keep myself safe so I can live
my life longer. But in the end, is that
really the best? I know most would say
enjoy the time you have: since you don't know how long you really have.
How do you move past the fear, shake it off
and start again??
And once all this waiting is over… once Brad comes home for
good, and we start the new chapter in our life – sans deployments, separations;
once we can be together for good – perhaps then I will be able to start living
again.
Therefore, my April book selection is a small tribute, recognition, reflection.
–
Saturday Night Widows by Becky Aikman
Here is the synapsis from Random House.com :
Six marriages, six heartbreaks, one shared beginning.
In her forties – a widow, too young, too modern to accept the role – Becky Aikman struggled to make sense of her place in an altered world. In this transcendent and infectiously wise memoir, she explores surprising new discoveries about how people experience grief and transcend loss and, following her own remarriage, forms a group with five other young widows to test these unconventional ideas. Together, these friends summon the humor, resilience, and striving spirit essential for anyone overcoming adversity.
Meet the Saturday Night Widows: ringleader Becky, an unsentimental journalist who lost her husband to cancer; Tara, a polished mother of two, whose husband died in the throes of alcoholism after she filed for divorce; Denise, a widow of just five months, now struggling to get by; Marcia, a hard-driving corporate lawyer; Dawn, an alluring self-made entrepreneur whose husband was killed in a sporting accident, leaving two small children behind; and Lesley, a housewife who returned home one day to find that her husband had committed suicide.
The women meet once a month, and over the course of a year, they strike out on ever more far-flung adventures, learning to live past the worst thing they thought could happen. They share emotional peaks and valleys – dating, parenting, moving, finding meaningful work, and reinventing themselves – while turning traditional thinking about loss and recovery upside down. Through it all runs the story of Aikman's own journey through grief and her love affair with a man who tempts her to marry again. In a transporting story of what friends can achieve when they hold each other up, Saturday Night Widows is a rare book that will make you laugh, think, and remind yourself that despite the utter unpredictability and occasional tragedy of life, it is also precious, fragile, and often more joyous than we recognize.
In her forties – a widow, too young, too modern to accept the role – Becky Aikman struggled to make sense of her place in an altered world. In this transcendent and infectiously wise memoir, she explores surprising new discoveries about how people experience grief and transcend loss and, following her own remarriage, forms a group with five other young widows to test these unconventional ideas. Together, these friends summon the humor, resilience, and striving spirit essential for anyone overcoming adversity.
Meet the Saturday Night Widows: ringleader Becky, an unsentimental journalist who lost her husband to cancer; Tara, a polished mother of two, whose husband died in the throes of alcoholism after she filed for divorce; Denise, a widow of just five months, now struggling to get by; Marcia, a hard-driving corporate lawyer; Dawn, an alluring self-made entrepreneur whose husband was killed in a sporting accident, leaving two small children behind; and Lesley, a housewife who returned home one day to find that her husband had committed suicide.
The women meet once a month, and over the course of a year, they strike out on ever more far-flung adventures, learning to live past the worst thing they thought could happen. They share emotional peaks and valleys – dating, parenting, moving, finding meaningful work, and reinventing themselves – while turning traditional thinking about loss and recovery upside down. Through it all runs the story of Aikman's own journey through grief and her love affair with a man who tempts her to marry again. In a transporting story of what friends can achieve when they hold each other up, Saturday Night Widows is a rare book that will make you laugh, think, and remind yourself that despite the utter unpredictability and occasional tragedy of life, it is also precious, fragile, and often more joyous than we recognize.
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