Widow's Walk

"Your husband has to be rushed to OR. He needs to have a chest tube put in to drain pleural fluid. Every one we've seen like this is malignant. Don't you have family in New Jersey? We think you'd better go back there." Thus begins the first step of the wanderings-from diagnosis, through death, and followed by the first two years of widowhood. Grief is multiplied. Within several weeks, her family of eight-daughters, sons-in- law, grandchildren, and beloved twelve-year-old cat-had shrunk to two. Based on daily journal entries, this is a present-tense, transparent, honest journey of a woman's psychological and theological search for meaning, wholeness, and healing. The journal ritual connects her to God and becomes her friend, counselor, and gateway to self-awareness, as she explores the subconscious in meditation, prayer, and dreamwork. In addition to love of God and family, love of Chincoteague Island permeates the story. Water, sky, birds in abundance are messengers of healing which inspire feelings of joy and gratitude in the midst of tears. This is a story of hope. It leads the reader on a journey through a wilderness of pain, confusion, and feelings of betrayal to a place of confidence revealing that there is life after death-death of a beloved or death of a dream. The grace, power, and love of God is confidently asserted to be more than sufficient to bring us to experience-along with Julian of Norwich-that all is well and all manner of things shall be well.