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Widows’ Hard Path — Move Forward Or Stay In Grief — Both Face Backlash
Being a widow is one of life’s most difficult journeys. It’s time to stop judging them and support them as they rebuild their lives.
Most people think of a widow in their 70s, after 50 years of marriage. However, that is typically the case. The average age for becoming a widow is 56. A quarter of widows are under 45. So, why are people shocked to see the woman moving forward and building a new life for herself after loss?
I was 42 when I lost my partner. None of my friends had experienced this type of loss. I felt alone and stuck in my grief for several weeks. One night, I was surfing Facebook — insomnia is a side effect of grief — and found a Widow Support group on Facebook.
These people, women, and men, became my new family for several months as I worked through my anger and grief. After three years, I keep seeing so many judgments against widows, and frankly, it pisses me off.
We Don’t Want To Move On, But We Have To
It doesn’t matter what the status of your relationship is with your partner, death is final, and it will hurt. In my situation, we lived together for about a year. He had health problems but…
