Widowhood Effect

        Three months ago I joined an exclusive club. It's a club where you instantly feel a connection to the countless complete strangers who are also members.    Despite the exclusivity of the club, it's a club no one wants to be in.     You see it comes with a very costly membership fee.      The love of your life, your sweetheart, your spouse.  It's the widow's club, and even more exclusively, the young widow's club.  

      I found this article on another widow's Facebook page this week and have read through it a couple times.   It's from yet another fellow member of the club.  Her words are profound.   Her story heartbreaking.   I'll likely share more of them in future blogs because they really resonate with me.   I feel I share a connection with these people I've never met, because we know a similar pain.  My heart aches for them.   

The Widowhood Effect

     Here are a few quotes that have really stuck out to me.

"I think it's about withstanding a blow that fundamentally changes your architecture. Some days, you are wobbly; other days, less so."

"My brain has not yet caught up with the reality of my life."

"No one warned me about the cognitive impairment that comes with grief. Tears, heartache, depression – these are expected, but the sustained diminishment of my thinking skills astonishes me."

 "The stress of losing a spouse permeates every part of one's body, affecting each cell and manifesting tremendous physiological changes. "