Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
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Our vision is to create a strong network of widows. We open the door to a new world for widows, ensuring they do not go through their experience alone, but with life-long connections and lasting support. Our help comes from going through the same and similar loss, our hearts open and compassionate. We help each other to heal by telling our stories, and by being available to listen.
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
4d ago
Spring is in the air! When we think of Spring, we are usually filled with restored hope in the optimistic promise life is renewed and fresh starts are possible. Tender green leaves and beautiful blossoms adorn the trees and bushes as the landscape before us transforms from the barren and dreary browns and greys to spectacular splashes of color and the air fills with the fragrance of fresh blooms.
Spring officially made its debut on March 19. I’ve been longing to bloom again for what seems like such a long time. Every year since my dear husband went home to Heaven, when spring comes, I think of ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
1w ago
The topic of humor is one that I have a lot of experience addressing.
Not just in my widowhood circles, but in my everyday life as well.
I was kind of a weird little Wednesday Addams sort of kid and if you could make me laugh, you were a-okay in my book.
Suffice it to say, though, in those first few moments, or maybe even days – who can remember – after Bret’s death, I felt like I might never laugh again.
I know I started to feel a little more like laughing once in a while around the time of his Celebration of Life, and I suppose it just started coming back to me bit by bit, after that.
There ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
1w ago
It’s been nearly three years since life as I knew it came to an abrupt halt. It was the 2nd phone call in 4 weeks that no one ever wants to receive … this was the call that told me my husband, the father of my children, the man I thought would be my partner through life’s journey, was gone forever. In the blink of an eye, I found myself navigating a reality I never anticipated—a reality filled with hidden truths, unresolved trauma, and the immense weight of becoming the sole pillar for my five beautiful children.
The initial shock gave way to a fierce determination to fight, to rebuild, to pro ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
2w ago
March Forth
It’s reflex
to set the fourth place.
My arms
move quick
across the dinner table.
Then I pull them back
like children
in danger.
People don’t understand –
It’s not just the Big Obvious Days.
It’s The Impossible Minutiae
of Ordinary Moments.
It’s catching a glimpse
of your shoes, kicked off,
by the door.
It’s the papercut
from your paperwork.
It’s a standard Wednesday.
It’s the word “never.”
It’s your empty baseball mitt from high school.
It’s the feel of your bat in my hands
because I heard a noise in the night ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
2w ago
The 7 Types of Listeners
On the path of grief, one of the greatest treasures hidden within the darkness of sorrow is finding the gift of genuinely compassionate listeners. Those people who care with their hearts in all sincerity while listening with both ears open and their mouth most often in the closed position. These are the people who don’t just yell down to you from their happiness to check on you while you are sitting in the pit of despair, while refusing to leave the comforts of their contented life. The genuine listener dares to venture into the darkness and sits beside ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
2w ago
Some years back, when Bret was very much alive and trying very hard to find peace, we attended a conference by Hay House publishing called “I Can Do It!”
It was magical – that’s how I honestly feel about it even to this day.
We got to hear (and meet) some very well-known speakers and authors and truly walked away from the several-day event feeling like entirely new people.
One such speaker was an author by the name of Nancy Levin, who spoke about how writing saved her life. Her message was very moving, very inspiring to me.
Years later I would have the opportunity to meet Nancy again, and hear ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
2w ago
When life is calm and things are going along smoothly like we hope they will, we may settle into feeling we are in control and can keep this going. When a massive life changing event throws that framework into chaos and confusion, it is very unsettling… to say the least. The death of our spouse is one of the most significant life changing events we can suffer.
Experiencing the loss of our beloved husband is one of those life circumstances that forces us to acknowledge the fact we really don’t have complete control of our life. While we can control certain things, we do not have the power to co ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
3w ago
Do you ever dream about your late husband?
When my sweetheart died I was forced to trade in my favorite books about Christian marriages, great dates, romance and parenting your children together for the books I never expected to read at age 36 about widowhood, grief and solo parenting. I read while nursing our youngest, still a baby and completely unaware of his own devastating loss. I read and I read. I learned about accounts of other widows’ experiences and so many accounts seemed to share they had experienced meaningful and life-like dreams during their grief journeys. Dreams that b ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
3w ago
As widows, we often talk about and hear from other widows how they have changed since their beloved spouse is no longer on earth. We often hear stories of how much the former life we once had is not a reflection of the current state of events. From the smallest things to the larger things, most things in life were significantly altered. Sometimes to the point of not even being able to remember the former life we once experienced.
My life has changed in many ways since my husband died almost 9 years ago. I no longer live in the same residence, or drive the same vehicle(s ..read more
Hope For Widows Foundation | Resources for Widows
1M ago
Complicated Grief
Grief is complicated. Quite literally every aspect of the process feels like unraveling a mystery and swimming against the current. Your head knows a reality your heart wants to reject. You feel like your past, present and future are all forever tainted by death’s sting. Confusing emotions get all intertwined and it is complex to sort through it all, day in and day out while trying to function. All of this happens while at the same time you are reaching with all the strength you can muster to take even the tiniest baby steps forward. This is indeed a perfect picture o ..read more