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trying2breathe

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Everything posted by trying2breathe

  1. Hello Fellow Widdas, Greetings arneal, belated congrats on your marriage and the move and hope you are well! I'm ten years out and feeling good, so grateful for this site and glad that it's again available for others that find themselves here. Sharing those early dark grief days were invaluable to my healing, there is nobody that understands like those that have walked this journey also. My six year relationship with my guy ended last year, we parted ways when I discovered his unhealthy reliance on alcohol. Today he is in recovery and doing well, we continue to be friends but without a romantic connection. I'm grateful that he's sober, and realized that it was important to take time to realign my emotions and get back to a healthy routine. I'm currently not dating anybody, staying busy with activities and part-time work and not looking to meet anybody anytime soon. I think of my late husband, miss him and know that there will always be an empty seat at the table. I move forward and feel like I'm doing well, there is space in my life and heart to find love again but I'm in no hurry!
  2. It's almost 10 years for me, and I'm forever grateful for YWBB, especially in those early darkest days. I was the youngest in my local grief group and although it was helpful I didn't find a lot of connection there. YWBB gave comfort and an understanding that I found nowhere else. Thank you Lewis for keeping Widda alive, and I do go back and look at the old posts sometimes too.
  3. His name was Jeff, it was nine years last week.
  4. Thank you Lewis!! Good to be back!
  5. Really love this, tybec. Rings so true to everything that I'm feeling at 7 years out.
  6. Thanks for the info on what you both are doing. My brother lives close and we get along, so I'm putting him on my legal documents and I'm on his. I feel like it's easier this way. What I'm learning is to give NG HIPAA rights, in case something should happen to me. I want to share what NG's sister went through with her committed partner, in case it helps anybody here. I'm not an attorney, and maybe state laws differ in this situation. This happened in Florida - NG's sister lived with her SO for 7 years in a committed relationship but they did not marry. He got sick and was hospitalized, and sadly several months later passed away. She did not have any rights as his domestic partner to see him in the hospital, have decisions on his health care or participate in his end of life in any way. The family either did not recognize or maybe did not like her - regardless she was cut out of everything both from a medical perspective and financially. So sad - who knows what her SO's choice on this would have been, but I can only imagine that he probably would have wanted her by his side. I think it's good to have the conversation ahead of time and put legal affairs in order to protect ourselves.
  7. lovelorne A pervasive sadness - that describes widowhood for me well. I'm generally content and work hard at living life and putting on a happy face but there is a sadness - that knowledge that love and plans for old age was taken away - that underlies it all. It affects my current relationship and what I imagine would be any future ones too. sigh ...
  8. sudnly Good to hear from you, sounds like your plate has been full and I hear you on figuring out whether to continue on with somebody. No we don't forget our beloved and those anniversaries, although for me time has most definitely softened the grief. I'm updating personal legal affairs - will, medical directive, power of attorney ... and what's interesting is that I'm not putting NG into any of it other than giving him rights to visit me in the hospital. Has anybody else dealt with this kind of thing? He's feeling left out and that we're not in a relationship for the long haul. How do others in committed relationships set these kinds of things up? I feel that if I'm not married to him, why give him legal rights over medical and financial decisions? Hope everybody is doing alright - my community is getting a little less restrictive, we continue taking precautions and hope for the best.
  9. CS I'm so sorry for your loss, The early days are so difficult, it can be hard to imagine that the darkness will lift but a little at at time it will. Eat when you can, drink water and take help if offered to you. I journaled every night in the early days and this helped me a lot. There are many here than can relate to what you're going through, sorry to see you here but I hope that you find some comfort with others that can relate.
  10. If I were to marry again, I would most definitely have a pre-nup. LH and I didn't pre-nup but we were young, without kids and starting out on our professional careers. I now very well understand this ^ and wouldn't want to leave anything to chance. It isn't the most romantic thing to deal with when re-partnering, but it's life.
  11. LH was diagnosed as ADD, so I can relate to the frustration of trying to get things done around the house. He'd start something and half finish it. lol I remember him never being able to hit the hamper with his dirty clothes. What I'd give to have him here and struggle with this now. NG is very hands on and gets things done that I don't even realize need doing. "Twitching for a project" - love that julester! NG is more concerned about the physical stuff rather than our emotional well being - I'm trying to come to terms with this and see if I can continue on with my meat & taters guy. If we're provisioned, house is tidy and laundry is done, all is good in his world. I need more ... Best with your new job, arneal - and hope that you're feeling okay and the new diet goes well.
  12. SamNE Gosh I relate to your post, seven years out and I also don't remember acknowledging everything that was done for us after he died. Several of his colleagues came in from out of town for his service, and I'm pretty sure that I never acknowledged their kind presence there. I was in a free fall for a few years and was struggling to manage the basics, I will also reach out and send some long overdue thank yous. ❤️
  13. It's encouraging to hear that covid numbers are going down right now, hope this continues. My mom is in her 80s and got her first dose a couple of weeks ago, it was relatively easy for her as she's in a retirement community and it is managed there. Others 65 and up have access to an on-line registration system which has not gone well, appointments are quickly taken and the system is not user friendly, and the elderly are having a particularly hard time with it. Several friends with elderly parents drove two hours several counties away to a sports arena to get their doses, inconvenient but seems to have worked for them. I'm in an area with a lot of seasonal residents and doses are going to them rather than those that live here year round. Am also hearing that non-residents are driving in to receive vaccines. I'm low on the list to receive, will patiently wait my turn and take precautions in the meantime.
  14. Glad that you got in, Julester. I was getting the same message, maybe why it's so quiet here. Our new chapters may look entirely different than what we expect, an adjustment but not a bad thing I think. After getting back into dating, I naively thought that I would move from a two parent two kid household to a Brady Bunch kind of a situation. Why did I think that?! hahahaha Tired here too, really hoping 2021 brings some relief to what we're all dealing with. It's been a melancholy holiday, low key and quiet Christmas with my elderly mom here for part of the day, newly divorced brother, daughter and NG. Focused on food and being together, a good thing. Blending with NG's family was not an issue this year, his eldest daughter was here for a week and using Covid as an excuse (she arrived and said she had been recently exposed) I chose to not see her at all. It was so good to not have the drama and angst this holiday. NG and I recently had a rare evening out, I struck up a conversation with a friend of a friend. The friend asked about NG, how long married, etc. Told her we were together almost 4 years, not living together, no plans to marry but committed. She was surprised and interestingly said that this was the ideal situation. Seems that her 25 year marriage was not great and she would love to have what I do. Makes me go hmmm ... Best wishes for a blessed and Happy New Year.
  15. His name was Jeff. I get teary eyed when I hear his name still.
  16. Yup - another Christmas, seven years along and the holidays are again a melancholy time for me. What helps for me is to get outside and into nature, bike riding or taking the dog for a long walk and socializing - distanced - with other dog owners has helped a lot. Also love an occasional epsom salt bath before bedtime, soothes my nerves too. Trying to keep on keepin' on
  17. tybec Thank you for this post, love the happiness hacks. Lately I've been leaning towards a glass of wine or three many nights - this is a reminder to do things differently. Wishing you also a season of gratitude, I hope to focus on what's right and good in life right now. ❤️
  18. Good to hear from you LF, and great to hear that that you are doing well and happily married. I appreciate this site too for help in navigating the process. Happy holidays to you and yours ~
  19. SW Thanks for your comment, and hope that you and yours are doing well. ^^ Yes, that feeling is sometimes there. It's my harsh reality that this relationship is lacking right now. He usually does say sweet things to me, but lately that hasn't been the case. We've had some hard conversations this past week, and I still hang in there with him. I let him know that I'm moving forward in looking for a new place, and will move whether we're together or not. I won't put my life on hold to wait and see what happens with him, am working on being in a better mental state and not let this relationship drag me down. There's so much to be depressed about these days, and it's getting to me. It's kind of like the feeling where there's so much going on right now that a quick decision shouldn't be made. Not like widow grief, but a general sadness of all that's happening right now. Sigh ... a gray cloud is overhead, I hope better days are coming soon.
  20. arneal It's good of you to take care of your late husband's belongings and plan to ship them to his daughter. Even with her sense of entitlement and general disrespect towards you. It sounds like there are valued treasures in those belongings, and I imagine it feels good to take care of where he would want those treasures to go. I'm finishing up the purge of my married household, and there's still some things to move along. The kids don't want much at all, DD has a few of his t-shirts that she wears, DS didn't want anything at all. I'm sad that DS has refused everything, including his mountain bike that he would ride on cycling trips with his Dad. DH died while biking, and my son hasn't been a bicycle since. My son was an avid cyclist, and I hope that someday he's able to get back into it. With the pandemic, I dusted off my old bicycle and started riding more - emotional for me to get into it but it's been a good thing. NG - sigh. We've had some hard conversations lately that haven't gone well at all. Because we were getting nowhere, I told him that moving in together wouldn't happen right now, I needed to put it off for awhile. The thing is - I want to move, want a yard for my dog and to get out of high HOA fees. I don't know whether to move forward without him, or wait for him. Or maybe give it a little more time ... ? I need a peaceful relationship without strife, a soft place to land. This isn't us right now. I'm so sad. Not ready to throw it away after almost 4 years, but I'm getting closer to making a hard decision about what's right for both of us. I'm lucky that his exes aren't manipulative, we have that going for us at least. My son doesn't share much with me about the fires, as he thinks I worry too much - but he says that the smoke is clearing and he's able to get out more. He starts grad school studying forest ecosystems, timely as there's a lot for him to study with all that's going on right now. Those gender reveals need to be outlawed - ! I escaped a Cat 4 hurricane once - took photo albums and my dog and didn't look back. No regrets!
  21. Tigerlilly I also relived my husband's passing, it took awhile before I was okay with how things happened. Eventually, as PaulZ says, you will smile when you think of him. For me, the shock gradually began to wear off, reality settled in and slowly, slowly, I started to feel better. I'm so sorry that you've joined us here, I can understand the feelings that you are having.
  22. Tigerlilly In those early days, I did just what was necessary. Some days it was getting out of bed and not much else, there were a lot of pajama days as I called them. Take care of just what is needed, and ask for help with the rest. I didn't act on it but remember not caring if I lived or died, but those feelings did pass. If you are thinking of taking those tablets, please reach out. Grief is overwhelming, and the early days are so very difficult but with time, it softens. You are not alone -
  23. That's a tough one, arneal - to continue to store LH's belongings not having a plan on how to pass them along. Maybe give his daughter a date to collect his things, if she doesn't do this let her know you will sell what you can and send her a check? I'm all about purging right now - 7 years out and FINALLY got rid of a storage unit full of my married household furnishings with DH. It feels so good to pass these things along, and at last I'm in a good place emotionally to manage this now. I found an estate sale person and she's managing it, there may be somebody near you like this that can do something like this for you? Yeah - the emotional connection, I can't think of a hard definition of what this is but I just know that he's still connected to his ex. It's interesting and I'm kind of amazed that somehow I've managed to move forward from my late husband. I will love DH forever, it was a great relationship that sadly came to a sudden end and I'll forever think of him with loving memories. But I no longer dwell on what was, what could have been, our future together. I remember our anniversaries, his birthday, but have come to accept that he's no longer here. I no longer actively grieve, and it feels good to say this. I think NG still grieves the relationship with his ex-wife. They had an unresolved situation that he still wonders about, it must be a tough thing to continue to deal with for him. Sigh ... glad to figure some of this out and I appreciate your response on this. Hope you continue to stay well, news on fires from California is getting a little better I think?
  24. Tigerlilly I'm so sorry to hear of the loss of your husband. In the early days after my 49 y/o husband died I found a lot of comfort in the predecessor to this site. There are many here also that understand loss of a spouse and can provide comfort. I found it helpful to journal in my early days, and every day carved time out to actively grieve. Take care of yourself, drink water, eat when you can, know that you are not alone. A gentle hug to you ~
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