In a few hours, I will face another series of “firsts.” My first Thanksgiving without my husband. My first time getting together with several members of his family in Chicago—Charlie’s absence acutely obvious. On top of that, Friday would have been his sixty-second birthday. I’ve shed more than a few tears these past few days. None of this is…
After learning of my husband’s death, my journey home was extremely difficult. Boarding the plane that would take me back to Iowa, I could barely put one foot in front of the other. Once I got to my seat, I realized I had a problem. How was I going to hoist my bag into the overhead bin? I…
Recently, I received an email from someone I hadn’t heard from for quite a while. She contacted me after learning of my husband’s death. Catching me up on the last thirty years, she said that other than a few momentary relationships along the way, she’d been alone since her divorce. She wrote, “I have had many emotional struggles dealing…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtXttbkDnHE It’s been two months since I learned my wonderful husband of thirty-eight years, Charlie Farrell, died in his sleep. He was sixty-one years old. The call came at five a.m. When my phone first rang beside the hotel bed I quickly declined it, not recognizing the number. But when it rang again, this time with a dear friend’s…
