Navigating New Loneliness as a Recent Widower
I was young, at 59, though I do not believe age and loneliness of a survivor go hand-in-hand.
My late wife used to say, “You are the CEO of your own life.”
It was a philosophy she embraced for the boosting of good judgment and alleviation of the need for excuses should one make a challenging decision or fall short in a task. Now that I am the only member of us still living, I find myself reminded of her words as I strive not only to make all the right decisions but to keep moving forward.
Sometimes, however, keeping up the motivation to do so is awfully tough without one’s better half.
I’ll part the curtain.
Though we had each consistently encouraged the other to cultivate separate friendships and interests so as to maintain busy and rewarding individual lives, the truth is Lorie and I spent the vast majority of our marriage in each other’s loving company and we leaned on one another for support and judgment.
To many of our existing mutual friends, that all translated into a “perfect union.”
There is no such thing.
Lorie and I certainly did not have a perfect union under any legitimate definition of the term, as much as I would…
